Gone Baby Gone
by ladystabler
Summary: Elliot and Olivia are together, and living with their baby girl. When a case of mistaken identity shatters the new family, everyday will become a struggle. Will they ever get their happily ever after?
1. Chapter 1: Love

**Quick Disclaimer: I don't own any of the L&O SVU characters, Dick Wolf does =)**

**A/N: This is my first fic. I figured I'd jump in since I've been enjoying everyone else's stories on here the last little while, and hopefully once I get this story's momentum going, you'll all enjoy it as much as I've been enjoying reading yours. Reviews and comments are welcomed, and encouraged.**

**In this story, Eli wasn't born, Elliot & Olivia are together, so it's E/O (and 'fluffy' for the time being) Thanks for stopping by =)**

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"Hi, Sweetpea." Olivia smiled, walking into the bedroom of her 8-month-old daughter. Lightly fussing, and ready for attention, Ava Stabler smiled and kicked her feet as her mother approached.

"Did you have a good sleep? Let's get you changed, and then we're going to go meet daddy for lunch. Sound like fun?" She asked, taking the baby's gurgles and tug of her mommy's hair as a yes.

After loading Ava's stroller into the trunk, securing the carseat into the back, and making sure her baby had a soother and a toy to keep her occupied for the drive, Olivia headed to the 1-6.

She had gone on Maternity leave a month before Ava's birth, and every time she swung by to visit Elliot and the gang, she couldn't help but try to delve into whichever case the crew had been working on. She couldn't wait to get back to work, but as she glanced into her rearview mirror to check on her baby girl, she couldn't stand the fact that she'd have to part with her little one every morning.

"Hey, look who it is!" Fin called out as Olivia walked into the unit with Ava tucked into her stroller. "Right on time." He said, looking at his watch as he headed over to Olivia. "How's it going, baby girl?" Fin asked, as he unstrapped Ava. "We're good for the moment, actually. Ava had a nap before we came up here, so we've managed to forget the frustration of teeth coming in. For now at least." Olivia explained, running her hand over Ava's cheek.

"Knock on wood." Munch added, heading over to tell Ava one of his many stories that usually served the purpose of putting the little lady to sleep. "Where's El?" Olivia asked, looking around the office. She turned to Fin and Munch, but they were both too enamored with Ava to have heard her questions. The newly crowned 'baby girl' had them wrapped around her finger, and all she had to do was drool.

Olivia headed over to Cragen's office, knocked on the door, and sure enough found Elliot sitting opposite the Captain, sharing a laugh. "Hey, I didn't know you were here." Elliot said, getting up out of his seat. "It's okay, the guys get a few minutes to visit." Olivia smiled.

"So are you about ready to get back into things detective?" Cragen asked, quite relieved to be ready to stop replacing Elliot's temporary partners because they weren't "a good fit" as Elliot would put it each time, among other words.

"Yes, Sir!" She smiled. Cragen was about to say something more, but Olivia's attention was immediately diverted as a small cry broke out. "Uh… Liv?" The trio heard Munch call out.

Standing in the middle of the room was Munch, holding a crying Ava, and Fin standing opposite the two with Ava's last feeding on his shirt. "Fin, I'm sorry!" Olivia called out, taking Ava from Munch's arms. "It's… all good. I've got another shirt in my locker. And really, I should no better by now." He smiled.

"Hey there, princess." Elliot said, scooping Ava from Olivia's arms. "Let's get you cleaned up." He said, walking over to the stroller and the attached diaper bag.

Olivia watched Elliot with their daughter, carefully wiping her face of any leftover spit up, and gently securing her into her stroller. He always spoke ever-so-softly to her, tried way too hard to make her laugh, and always knew just the right way to calm her down when she was having a tough time.

Knowing that he had missed a lot of moments with his other children, he and Olivia had made a promise once they had found out they were expecting that they would do whatever it took to make sure they spent as much time with Ava as they could, even if meant loading Ava into the car to get a visit with her daddy for lunch that would be shorter than the amount of time it had taken Olivia to get herself and her daughter ready and up to the precinct.

Luckily, after the months that she'd been on leave, Olivia had managed to get her timing down good, and it no longer took her two or more hours to get ready to meet Elliot for half an hour. She smiled, remembering the thought of Ava's first months, before Elliot pulled her out of her daze.

"Ready? We're hungry." He asked, pushing the stroller towards her. They waved goodbye to the guys and headed out for their visit. It would be short, but for them, it worked, and that was all that mattered.

* * *

"Do you want me to take her?" Olivia asked, smiling down at Ava asleep in Elliot's arm. "Nah, I'm a multi-tasker." He smirked, eating the rest of his lunch with his free hand. "So how's the search going?"

"There's a couple agencies I've called. I've got an appointment set up at one for tomorrow, and another on Saturday, so we'll see how that goes." Olivia answered. Sensing Olivia's fear of leaving her daughter in the care of a stranger, Elliot placed his hand over hers. "She's going to be okay, Liv. We'll Skype with her from the office." Elliot chuckled.

Never one for being completely up to date with technology, Elliot had luckily somehow managed to grasp the use of Skype since Kathy had moved out of state with the kids. Oddly enough, making the time to go online and talk with them made him feel closer to them than he had been when they had been living in New York.

"Why don't we go for a walk around the park?" Elliot suggested after they had finished at the restaurant. "You have to get back to the precinct. Don't you guys have a case?"

"You'll be happy to know it got wrapped last night. Perp finally confessed at 2 am, so I crashed in the cribs for a few hours, then did most of the paperwork this morning. Told Cap that it was the last couple days of your leave, and I had a ton of unused vacation time, so he said he'd call me if I was needed." He smiled, pushing the stroller along the street, Ava still peacefully asleep. Olivia stopped walking and stared at him. "Really?"

"Liv, I've told you countless times how I want to do it right with Ava. I want to be there. I want to meet the new sitter, I want to be able to tell her what Ava likes and doesn't like, and how she needs to be put down for a nap. Cause I didn't know half those things with my other kids, and you know I regret it." Elliot took Olivia's hand in his, and smiled over at Ava. "I'm going to do it right this time."

* * *

"So who did you like? I thought that Sam was really nice. And did you see how attentive she was when Ava was fussing? And she even asked us questions, which I wasn't expecting. She's really nice." Olivia said, looking over her notes Friday evening. The family was seated on the couch, Elliot with his knees up so Ava could sit back against them.

"Sam was nice. What do you think? You're going to have to put up with her." Elliot asked his daughter. "Daa!" She said to Elliot. "I thought you'd say that, but mommy and I already said you can't come to work with us." Elliot frowned, scrunching his face Ava. She giggled, reaching her chubby fingers to explore her dad's face. He nibbled at her fingers, causing a fit of squeals. "El?"

"Right. Yes, Sam was a good fit. Provided she comes clean on a background check." Elliot replied. Olivia knew that the agency only hired sitters with a clean background, but she wasn't going to go against Elliot having a check done himself, especially when it concerned the safety of their daughter.

"Okay, I'll call Stella at her office and let her know, and we can get everything set up. What do you want for dinner?" Olivia asked, getting up off the couch. "I've already got some chicken marinating in the fridge. Figured we could just do that and pasta." Elliot answered. Olivia turned and stared at him.

"Got it done while you were napping with Ava this afternoon." He smiled. She walked up to him, bent down and kissed him softly on his lips. "Never change." She whispered to him. Elliot stared down at her, leaning in for another kiss. "I don't plan on it." Then of course, as luck would have it, Ava started to fuss. "Are you hungry again?" She laughed, taking Ava out of her dad's arms. She headed towards Ava's nursery and Elliot headed towards the kitchen to get dinner ready.


	2. Chapter 2: Life

**A/N: Hi gang... still trying to figure out this twists and turns in uploading, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. Thanks for stopping by =)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the L&O: SVU characters.**

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It was the night before Olivia's first day back at work, and unfortunately for her and Elliot, Ava's teeth had decided to continue working their way out of her gums again. And again. And again.

"I've got her." Elliot said, sitting up in bed. "No, let me go, you were up a few hours ago." Olivia said, climbing out of bed. "Just bring her in here, babe."

Olivia scooped her daughter out of her crib. "I know, sweetie, it's not fun." She said soothingly, rubbing Ava's back. She headed into the kitchen, got some teething gel to put on Ava's gums, and grabbed a frozen teething ring from the freezer.

"Rough night, princess?" Elliot said as Olivia laid Ava in the middle of their bed. She started to cry once more. "Okay, you're okay." Elliot said, wiping her tears as Olivia placed the teething ring in her daughters hands. Ava instantly quieted down, her cries turning into small sniffles, and was hopefully almost returning to dreamland.

"What are you thinking about?" Elliot asked. Olivia was staring down at Ava, running her hand gently over Ava's soft brown hair. "I'm feeling guilty about going to work tomorrow. I just… Oh, Elliot, what if it's too soon?" She asked.

"Liv, we've had this discussion a million times already, and you know that you have nothing to feel bad about. And Sam is going to be great with Ava, you saw them earlier today, she'll be fine. You'll be on your first case, and you'll wonder why you didn't come back the day after you gave birth." He paused. "I know, that's stretching it, but you'll be okay. I promise." He said, propping himself up on his elbow, "C'mere." Olivia leaned over their daughter and kissed him. "Thanks, honey." She said, laying her head back down on her pillow.

Ava had fallen back to sleep, and hopefully would be okay until it was actually necessary for them to be awake. She carefully replaced the teething ring with the soother Olivia always kept by her bedside, gave her baby girl a kiss on her head, and slowly started to fall back to sleep. "I love you, Elliot." She whispered. "Love you too, Liv."

* * *

"Okay, so the bottles are in the fridge, One is for-"

"Naptime, the other is for bedtime, which I'll only need if you aren't home by then. Half a jar of baby food for lunch, unless she's still hungry, same goes for dinner. Teething rings are in the freezer, teething gel is in the bathroom, your phone numbers are on the fridge, and the keys are on the counter. I've got it, Mrs. Stabler."

Olivia knew that her daughter was going to be in good hands. Sam was studying to work in Early Childhood Education. She was well organized, and very taken by Ava. The two had clicked immediately, which was a main selling point for Olivia. Aside from she and Elliot, Ava had a habit of taking awhile to warm up to people, but with Sam, Ava had been completely relaxed.

Olivia blushed, forgetting she'd gone over all of this with Sam multiple times. "Right, I'm sorry. And please, Sam, call me Olivia." She smiled as Elliot entered the living room with Ava. "Alright, are we ready?" He asked. Olivia started to get teary-eyed. "Come here, sweetpea." She said with a sniffle, leaning into hug Ava. "I'm going to miss you _so much_!" She told her. Ava sneezed.

"Elliot, she's getting a cold. Maybe we should wait until tomorrow." She said, absolutely serious. "Liv, it's time to go." Elliot told her. He gave Ava a kiss on top her head and handed her to Sam. "We'll see you later. Have a good day, ladies." He smiled, and gently tugged Olivia out the door.

* * *

As the days went on, it became easier for Olivia to part with her daughter. Elliot had helped by giving Sam their digital camera to film little parts of Ava's day for them to watch when she came home. It had been a welcomed surprise for both of them after spending days helping rape victims, searching the city for suspects and witnesses, and writing up her paperwork. She and Elliot had both tried to work the early shifts so that they could have time to spend at home with Ava in the evenings, but sometimes they'd have to split up the shifts, depending on the case.

"When are you going to bring my baby girl in for a visit?" Fin said, perching himself on the corner of Olivia's desk. "I could just as easily ask when her Uncle Fin is going to come over for a playdate…?" Olivia shot back with a smirk, leaning back in her chair. He laughed, and picked up the photo of Olivia, Elliot, and Ava at the hospital a little while after she was born. "How's she doing?"

"She's great. She's starting to pull herself up against the furniture, which terrifies me that she's growing- again!" Olivia explained. "Here look, Sam filmed this last week." Olivia said, pulling up a video on her phone.

"Alright, Mommy and Daddy, Miss Ava has something special to show you!" Sam exclaimed brightly to the camera. She turned it onto Ava, who was slowly walking along the side of the couch, smiling brightly at the camera. "Right on, baby girl!" Fin said when the video ended. She let Fin scroll through the videos, and Munch watched over his shoulder.

"El, did Sam say if she had any particular plans with Ava when you left this morning?" She asked. Elliot looked up from his desk, and shook his head. "I think she just mentioned going to the library, and the park. Nothing too special."

Olivia picked up her phone. "Maybe I'll get her to swing by with Ava for lunch. I'm off at 3, so I can just drive her home afterwards. And then you can get your little visit." She explained, looking over at Fin.

"And if we're lucky, Munch will get her down for a nap before the drive home." Elliot laughed. Munch rolled his eyes. "That girl is going to be a walking book of knowledge after I teach her everything I know. Just you wait." He shot back.

"Hmm, no answer. She must have her phone on silent while they're in the library." Olivia said aloud. "Hi Sam, it's Olivia. Just wondering if you could fit it in your schedule to bring Ava by here this afternoon. Give me a call and let me know, thanks!" She smiled, and hung up the phone.

"Okay, well, let's go grab some lunch now, that'll give us more time to visit when your little one gets here." Fin said to Olivia, nodding over to Munch. The partners grabbed their jackets and waved at Elliot and Olivia. "Hey, can we buy her a treat, or is she still… you know?" Munch asked awkwardly, looking to Olivia.

"Breastfeeding?" Olivia asked, with a laugh. "She's moving onto solids now, so yes, if you want to get her a _treat_, I'm sure she'd love a banana, or some yogurt." Olivia explained. "Wow. A banana? What a treat!" Fin called back sarcastically. "She's 9 months, a mushed banana will be the highlight of her day!" Elliot called back. He smiled at Olivia.

"Still no answer?" Elliot asked as he saw Olivia put her phone back on the receiver. "Yeah, I dunno, maybe she left her phone at the apartment?" She asked. Elliot shrugged, just as Cragen came out of his office. "Hey, I've got a vic- you two are off in an hour, where are Munch and Fin?" He asked, looking around. "They left about an hour ago for lunch, so they should be back soon. We can check it out, Cap, then we'll give the details to Fin and Munch when we meet up with them." Elliot said, getting out of his chair.

"Okay, vic is down at Bellevue in ICU, I don't have a name on her yet… sustained multiple injuries… the doctor will fill you in on more details when you get there, that's all I've got now. I'll give the guys a call and have them meet you there." Cragen said as Elliot and Olivia grabbed their jackets.

"Cap, if Sam comes by, can you just get her to hang out, and we'll swing by once we know Fin and Munch are good to go?" Olivia asked. Cragen nodded, "Sure." She smiled, and headed out to the car with Elliot.

* * *

"Detectives Benson and Stabler. We're here about a Jane Doe?" Elliot asked the receptionist in the ICU ward of Bellevue Hospital. "Room 848, down the hall and around the corner. The other detectives are already there." She answered, turning away to answer a phone. "Fin and Munch must've been having lunch nearby." Elliot shrugged, looking over at Olivia, who was still preoccupied wondering why Sam hadn't answered her phone yet.

"El!" Fin called out as Elliot and Olivia came around the corner to the room. "Hey, did you see the vic yet?" Elliot asked as they came to a stop. "Yeah, we did. We've got it covered, she's not awake from surgery yet. Cragen says to get back to the precinct."

"What? Why? Our shift is almost over. Did you get a name on her?" Elliot asked, not wanting to be left in the dark. "Yeah, they located her stuff. We've got it here, man. You should head back." Fin said, patting him on the arm.

Meanwhile, Olivia was once again trying to reach Sam. "What's eating Munch?" She asked hitting redial on her cell. Munch was staring into the window of the patients' room, looking slightly distraught. Olivia watched him turn around and angrily throw a banana he'd had in his hand into the garbage can.

"Munch? You okay?" Olivia asked, walking towards him, her phone starting to ring Sam's number. "Liv? Wait! Munch!" Fin shouted over Olivia. "Liv… No." Munch said, his expression widening as she approached him. She stopped when she heard a phone ringing simultaneously with hers. "Hold on a sec." She said to him, pulling her phone away from her ear and staring at it.

She looked around the hallway before realizing where the other cellphone ring was coming from. She looked into the patient window. Her phone dropped to the ground, her knees buckled, and her heart started beating fast. "El… Elliot! ELLIOT!" She screamed. Elliot pushed past Fin and dashed over to where his wife was standing. He grabbed her just before she collapsed. "It's Sam. Elliot, that's Sam!"


	3. Chapter 3: Loss

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the L&O SVU characters, Dick Wolf does =P**

**A/N: Hi all! Thanks so much for stopping by, and for taking a moment to let me know what you think =) Enjoy the next chapter...**

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"I want an Amber Alert sent out. Has anyone heard from Benson or Stabler? I need a photo of Ava, now!" Cragen yelled out to the few officers at headquarters. "Sir, an Amber Alert? We don't have a license or car description, or-"

"We have a missing child! Not only that, she is the daughter of two of our detectives. I expect you all to be using every method, every measure, and every means of getting the news out about this baby. Now move!" Cragen yelled out to the officers he had wrangled to help out the team.

"Elliot!" Cragen said as he saw Elliot walk into the SVU unit with Munch at his side. Everyone in the room hushed down. Elliot walked straight into Cragen's office, with the Captain and Munch following close behind. "Where's Liv?" Cragen asked, pulling Munch aside for a moment.

"Riding with Fin. I pulled El as soon as I could so we could get here with a picture of Ava. Liv's pretty broken up… they both are. Elliot just seems to be hiding it better. For the time being." Munch answered. They headed into the office and closed the door.

"El, we're going to do everything we-"

"Don't. Don't give me the speech, Cap." Elliot said, staring up at him. He was trying his best to keep on his straight laced, strong-willed expression that he wore on a daily basis, but as Cragen noted, his face was visibly pale, his eyes bloodshot and stricken with worry.

"I emailed you a picture of Ava from my phone. It's from yesterday." He said quietly. Cragen nodded, and forwarded the picture out to printed.

"And what about the vic? Did you get a statement? A description of the attacker?" Cragen asked. Munch shook his head. "The vic- Sam suffered some trauma to her head, she's been put in an induced coma until the swelling has gone down a bit." He explained.

Cragen couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had all the tools and necessary forces to catch the attacker and Ava's kidnapper, but he had no starting point, and two of his best detectives were both in shock. He looked up at Munch.

"You and Fin are on this like a wildfire the second he gets back here with Benson. See what CSU's turned up from the scene, take Ava's photos to the park, get someone to send copies to the ACS offices, maybe someone's brought her in to a child center, or hospital. I need a lead." He instructed. Munch got up, squeezed Elliot's shoulder and headed out of the office.

"Can I get you something Elliot?" Cragen asked. Elliot was still staring at the background picture of Ava and Olivia on his phone. Olivia's bright wide smile, her eyes fixed on her little girl and Ava's adorable grin, obvious to Elliot that he had been behind the camera making her laugh.

"Liv didn't think she was ready to leave Ava yet. She kept on telling me that it wasn't fair to Ava, she felt guilty. I pushed her back into work, into leaving our daughter every day. All she's wanted for as long as I've known her is a family, and when that baby girl entered the world…" He paused, holding back his tears. He remembered that day like it was yesterday.

_Olivia had been in labor for nearly twenty-four hours, she was exhausted, and Ava still hadn't shown any signs of moving down. The doctors had decided on a caesarean, as Olivia had become too exhausted to push. _"_She's on her way, Liv." Elliot smiled, holding onto Liv's hand while the doctors worked their way through to the baby. "Is she here yet?" Olivia kept asking, feeling the pressure in her abdomen. "She's here!" The doctor called out, holding up the baby over the small curtain placed over Olivia's midsection. __Olivia cried. Elliot cried. "Our baby." He said, kissing her. The nurse came around with tiny Ava wrapped snuggly in a blanket and handed her to Elliot. He knelt down to Olivia. "Hi, baby." She cooed. Their little girl had arrived._

"I was so selfish to want her back at work with me. If I had just let her follow her own instincts…" Elliot said, near the point of breakdown.

"Elliot, we're going to find her, she's going to be fine." Cragen said, placing a reassuring hand on Elliot. He looked up just as Fin knocked on his office door and walked in with Olivia.

"Liv." Elliot said, standing up from his chair. His wife ran to him and hugged him tightly. She just about nearly broke down again, but knew she had to concentrate. She pulled away from Elliot

"Have you found anything, Captain?" Olivia asked, grabbing hold to Elliot's hand tightly. "Elliot's given us Ava's picture, Fin and Munch are going to see what CSU turned up." Cragen answered, looking over to Fin. He nodded and left the office.

"What can we do?" Elliot asked. Cragen sat down in his chair and Elliot and Olivia took seats across from him. "Is there anyone you can think of that would want to hurt either of you?" He asked.

"Olivia's been on maternity leave for the past year, any of the perp's I've caught wouldn't have seen her or Ava, aside from the fact that I don't think any of them have been released yet." Elliot answered.

"I'm going to call the hospital and see what the status is on Sam. For now, she's the only one who saw anything. Has her family been notified?"

"I gave the hospital the contact info for the nanny company we hired her from before I headed here. They said they'd get in touch with her family." She paused, her eyes tearing up again. "It's okay, Liv." Elliot said, squeezing her hand.

"No! It's not okay! Our daughter is missing, Elliot, and her nanny is lying in a hospital bed in a coma- there is nothing okay about that!" Olivia yelled, getting up from her chair. She paced around the room, her mind breaking into a million different thoughts. _Who would take Ava? Was she safe? Was she hungry? Who attacked Sam? Was Sam going to be okay?_

Elliot got up and pulled her into him as her tears started to fall again. "We're going to find her Liv, she's going to be fine." He told her, brushing the stray hairs away from her face. He gave her a reassuring smile, knowing that he'd never forgive himself if he were wrong. He couldn't be wrong, he told himself. He wouldn't let it come to that.


	4. Chapter 4: Hope

**Disclaimer: I don't own any L&O SVU characters... =(**

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks so much for stopping by, and for leaving your reviews/comments- your feedback is certainly a boost in confidence, and very much appreciated! And sorry to keep you in the dark for so long, but it's mid-term time in school and I've got to study when I can =P **

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"Dad!"

Elliot smiled at the computer screen. Since he and Olivia had refused to leave the 1-6 until they heard back from Fin and Munch, Elliot was having his Skype session at his work desk with his older kids.

Lizzie and Dickie's smiling faces flooded the screen. "Hey guys, how's it going?" Elliot asked. "Good!" They both answered in unison. "Uh… are you at work?" Lizzie asked. Elliot nodded, "Yeah, I am." He couldn't tell them why he was still at work just yet, so he proceeded with his regular, "How was school?"

Lizzie and Dickie both talked his ear off, talking about how much they hated geometry, games they had won since they had last spoken, and if Elliot would try his best to convince Kathy that a dog would be a good way to teach them responsibility. "I'll see what I can do." Elliot smiled. "Where are your sisters?" He asked, knowing that they usually popped in behind their siblings to say hi and they had both been absent the entire chat.

"Maur's at work, Katie's at her boyfriend's." Dickie answered. Elliot raised an eyebrow. He watched Lizzie punch her brother's arm. "Katie said you weren't suppose to tell him!" She hissed. "It's okay, I'll pretend I know nothing." Elliot smiled, zipping his lips sealed. The kids laughed. The sound was a welcome one and Elliot managed to let himself relax just a little bit.

"Hey guys, do you think I could talk to your mom?" He asked after chatting for a bit. The kids shrugged and called for Kathy. "Bye, dad!" They both said before heading out of the screen's view.

"Elliot? What's up?" Kathy asked. He cleared his throat. "Are the kids out of the room?" He asked her. She looked at him suspiciously before calling somewhere off the screen for the kids to go clean their rooms.

"I couldn't tell the kids just yet, basically because saying it kinda makes it feel real." He started. "Ava's missing."

Kathy's face softened. "El, what do you mean? How long has she been gone?" she asked. He proceeded to tell her the day's events, almost getting teary-eyed for a minute. He was lucky to have been able to maintain a somewhat amicable relationship with Kathy after the divorce. She hadn't been happy with his decision to be with Olivia, and he hadn't been happy with her decision to move away with the kids, but having some distance between them had proven to be beneficial for the most part. They had their heated moments, but always remembered that they were going to be forever linked through their children, and that was usually enough to help settle the matter at hand.

"I'll talk to the kids, El." She said to him quietly. Then, as Elliot knew it had taken a lot for her to muster, she asked, "How's Olivia?"

How _was_ Olivia? He thought about the breakdown she'd had at the hospital, and the hysterics she'd been in before Elliot had taken her upstairs to the cribs to rest until Fin and Munch returned. "She's terrified."

Kathy didn't say anything, she just stared at Elliot and the worried expression on his face. "I'm going to see how the Captain's doing. He's been making phone calls. I should see if he needs help." Elliot said, clearing his throat. Kathy nodded, before saying goodbye. "Keep me posted okay? Stay strong, El." She smiled. He smiled back at her. "Thanks, Kath."

* * *

"_So good, you have no idea." Olivia said as she sat up in bed. She had sent her husband out to McDonalds at 11 at night, just after Elliot had gotten home and into sweats, ready to relax after a hectic day before Olivia had gotten an intense craving for nuggets and a hot fudge sundae. _

_Elliot watched her dunk the nugget into the ice cream and pop the mess into her mouth without hesitation. He shook his head and climbed back into bed. Olivia had been watching some sappy classic black and white movie that she'd suddenly become accustomed to enjoying._

_Olivia had never been the one for the sappy "chick flicks" and "romances," but there she was, asking Elliot for a tissue while the two main characters in the movie fell in love. She wiped her tears before shoving another nugget into her mouth causing Elliot to burst out laughing. _

"_What?" Olivia asked. "Nothing." He said softly, wiping a smudge of chocolate sauce off her face. He placed his hand over her swollen belly and smiled at her. Olivia got teary-eyed once more, and Elliot laughed again._

Olivia remembered that night like it was yesterday. "A hot fudge mess." Elliot had called her. She placed her hand on her tummy, remembering when she could feel exactly which position Ava was in, and how it felt every time the little girl had kicked.

She thought about her cravings, and how even though she'd have eaten McDonalds right out of business for their sundaes, she hadn't had one since Ava was born, and could care less. But then she remembered that Ava had never had ice cream, and she felt bad. Of course Ava was still young, but Olivia felt bad for not giving her a spoonful of indulgence.

_Really? _She thought to herself. _Your daughter is missing, and you can only think about how she hasn't had ice cream?_ Olivia shook her head just as the door to the cribs opened. "Olivia?"

Casey Novak stood at the door, looking in the dark room to see Olivia was awake. She smiled when she saw Olivia sit up on the cot. "Liv, I just heard. I'm so sorry!" Casey said, coming to Olivia's side. She sat down next to her. "Can I get you anything?" She asked.

"A death sentence on whoever has my little girl." Olivia said before hugging her. "I'll try my best, believe me." Casey answered. "Provided I get to him before Elliot does."

Olivia stifled a small laugh and thanked Casey for dropping by to check in. "The second I have her back, I'm never letting her out of my sight." Olivia told her. "And I'm going to take her for ice cream."

* * *

After having no luck at the park finding witnesses, Munch and Fin got a call to go see Morales back at his lab. Both guys seemed to have a mutual understanding that they weren't going to return to the SVU office without something to show Elliot and Olivia. Their fingers were crossed that Morales had something good.

"Hey Fin, lucky break. The guys turned up a camera from the scene." Morales said as the guys entered his office. "It was pretty smashed up, but I managed to get the files off of the memory card." He said, turning on a display monitor.

"Ava! Wave to mommy and daddy!" Sam called out on the tape. Ava was on a swing at the playground, smiling at the camera. The detectives' hearts broke a little bit as soon as they heard Ava calling out "Mommy" and "Dada."

They had stood in Morales' lab watching clips for almost 20 minutes before Munch noticed something. "Hey, freeze frame that shot there." He directed. "Open another video… I think it was this one." He said, pointing to another clip on the main screen. Morales pulled up the clip and played it until Munch told him to freeze frame that clip as well.

"Check out that guy in the background, he's staring directly at them." Munch explained, pointing to the two shots. Fin nodded. "How many days apart are those clips?" He asked Morales. "Two days, one's from Monday, and then again on Wednesday."

"Print me off a screen cap, we'll run it through the system, see if there's any matches. Maybe we can find a couple people at the park tomorrow that would've noticed him." Fin said, looking to Munch. "Somebody must've noticed a lone man sitting on a park bench surrounded by kids." Munch answered, shaking his head disapprovingly.

"See how many times you can find him in those clips." Fin directed to Morales after he got the screen cap of the possible perp. "Thanks, man." He added, as he and Munch exited.

* * *

"Find anything?" Elliot said, getting out of his chair as he saw Fin and Munch walk into the room. "We might have a suspect. There wasn't anyone from this afternoon still at the park by the time we got there, so we won't have definite answers until we try to question people tomorrow afternoon." Munch said, tacking the screen cap of their possible suspect onto the board. "You found the guy?"

Olivia came down the stairs with Casey following close behind. "No, we're not sure yet. We won't know until we get to the park tomorrow." Fin explained. "Sam usually takes Ava there after her afternoon nap, around two. I'm going with you." She said, looking to Fin and Munch. "You're not going to that park, Liv."

Olivia turned and came face to face with the Captain. "What do you mean?" She asked him. "Olivia, I know you want to find Ava, we all do, but you are too emotionally attached to this case for me to let you go question witnesses." He said to her. "You are not a detective on this case. You are the parent of a victim."

The statement hit Olivia hard. She knew she couldn't fight the Captain on it- he was right. Her expression softened and Cragen knew he had hit a spot.

"Listen, I will let you and Elliot work here, and be a part of any meetings we have regarding Ava's case, but that's as far as I'm stretching it." He told her quietly.

Olivia wanted to contest what Cragen was telling her, but she knew there was no point. Ultimately he was looking at the best interests of her and Elliot, and for that, she had to be grateful. She nodded. "Thanks, Cap." Elliot added.

"Fin, Munch. Be at that park first thing." Cragen said, staring at the picture of their suspect on the board. "And you two get home. You need rest." He said, looking at Elliot and Olivia, both look visibly drained after the day's events. Casey nodded in agreement with Cragen.

"I can drop you guys off if you want." She added. "No, it's okay, we've got the car here." Elliot added. "C'mon, Liv." He said, taking her hand. She turned to everyone in the room and gave a half smile. "Thanks for your help today, guys." She said softly, hoping that by tomorrow, she'd be heading home with her little girl.


	5. Chapter 5: Discouraged

**A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry for leaving you in the dark for so long, hope I haven't lost your interest =( In other news, I did pass my midterm, so yay me! Thanks to those of you that have taken a few seconds to let me know what you think. If you haven't done so yet, please do =) This chapter is a little short than I'm used to posting, but I didn't want to leave you hanging any longer. I'll have the next update sooner than the wait you've had for this one- promise!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the L&O SVU characters**

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Fin and Munch got out of their car and headed over to a small playground within Central Park. The sun was shining brightly and laughter filled the air, it was almost too hard to believe Ava had been snatched just a little distance away.

"Excuse me," Munch began, walking up to a couple women seated on the benches. "Have any of you seen this woman here with this little girl?" He asked, holding up photos of Sam and Ava. A few of them shook their heads, but two ladies answered, "I remember them. Sam and Ava."

"We were here with them a few days ago. Is everything okay?" Asked the other.

Fin and Munch both flashed their badges and explained that Ava had been kidnapped and they were searching for a suspect. Immediately all the nannie's that had been seated ran to double-check on their children. "Does this man's photo ring any bells?" Fin asked, holding up their screenshot of the guy they had found on the tape.

"I saw him here a couple times, he was kind of creepy, but I haven't seen him since… Tuesday?" One of the lady's answered. "Did you see him leave with Sam?" Munch asked. The lady shook her head.

"We just all noticed him, and made sure to keep an eye on the kids. Sam said she was going to take Ava home because she was almost finished, so we said goodbye, and I just assumed she had headed back there like any other day." The lady answered. Fin handed her his card.

"If you remember anything else from the day, or if you see this guy again, call me asap." He directed. Both ladies nodded, then headed back to the playground.

"Well that did zip for anything." Munch said, shaking his head as the two men headed back to their car.

Fin sat at the steering wheel for a minute before slamming his hand onto the dashboard. He knew Olivia was going to be waiting for him and Munch to return to the 1-6, but the last thing he wanted was to show up empty handed.

"We gotta find something before we go back there." Munch said, almost reading Fin's mind. He nodded in agreement. "Let's go check out the hospital, see what the status is on Sam." Fin suggested, starting up the car.

* * *

"Detectives, may I help you?" The head nurse of the ICU unit asked as Fin and Munch entered the area. "We were just checking in to see the status on Samantha Martin." Fin replied.

The nurse looked around her desk and pulled up her file. "It says she's still being administered Propofol. Although the swelling in her brain has gone down a little bit, it's not enough to wake her yet. Sorry, Detectives." She explained, giving them a half smile. "Ms. Martin's parents are in her room if you'd like to talk with them?" She added.

"Mr and Mrs Martin?" Munch asked, knocking on the door of Sam's room. Mr. Martin had been staring out of the window, and Mrs. Martin had been tucking Sam's blankets in. "Sargeant Munch, this is my partner, Detective Tutuola." Munch said, introducing the two. Sam's parents came to shake their hands.

"I'm Ellen, this is my husband, William." Mrs. Martin replied. "Have you found the person who hurt our daughter? Did you find the baby?"

"We've talked to a few witnesses, but we're still working on finding some stronger leads." Fin answered, looking over to Sam. "Is there anyone you know of that would've had some issues, or a falling out with Sam?" He asked. Sam's parents both shook their heads.

"She got along with everybody. Sam's the kind of girl that could light up the room with her smile. She was so easy going… and oh, how she gushed about working with that little baby." Ellen smiled, taking a tissue from her pocket.

"We saw the piece on the news last night. That baby is just gorgeous, who would want to hurt her?" She added. William placed his arm around his wife.

"That's what we're trying to figure out, Mrs. Martin." Munch said, giving her a small smile. He couldn't tell them that their daughter being a coma was their reason for trying to climb a brick wall. The Martin's faces were full with worry already, and he didn't want to put anymore pressure on them. Neither did Fin.

"If you could keep us updated with Sam's progress, it would be very helpful to our case." Fin said, handing them another card of his. "Of course, Detectives, anything we can do to help." William answered, passing the card to Ellen. She tucked it into her wallet, and smiled at the two.

"Please find that baby girl. Sam will be just devastated if she wakes up and hears that she's not safe. It would be more pain than she needs." Fin and Munch both nodded before heading out of the ICU.

* * *

"We can't avoid going in there all day."

Munch and Fin were seated in a busy deli, grabbing some lunch, even though it was getting closer to dinner time, and trying to delay the inevitable of coming face to face with Olivia that they still had no solid leads on the whereabouts of Ava.

"I know." Fin said, shoveling some more food into his mouth. He shook his head. "Is there something we're missing? Is the guy that has Ava really that good?" He asked, throwing down his napkin. He was used to having clues, and suspects, and getting cases completed. For some reason, it just wasn't happening for them.

"C'mon, eventually she's going to know we're avoiding her."

Munch was right. Fin finished the last spoonful on his plate and they headed back to the 1-6.


	6. Chapter 6: Something

**Hi everyone! I've got the day off so I'm trying to write up a storm =P Thank you so much for those of you that are enjoying the story so far, your reviews and comments are very much appreciated. I will admit, this story keeps changing up in my mind, but I think I'm finally figuring it out (which would be nice, wouldn't it? lol). I also wanted to mention that I don't live in NY, so if you're questioning why the streets don't make sense... that's why =P Thanks again for stopping by!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any L&O SVU characters**

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"Okay, thank you for your help."

Olivia set the phone down. Another random tip of someone saying her baby had been spotted somewhere on the streets of New York- with a nanny, in a deli, at the playground, at a different playground, a different deli, with a different nanny…

Olivia shook her head. _How many 9-month-old baby girls with brown hair and blue eyes lived in New York?_

"This isn't working." She mumbled to herself, placing another thumbtack onto a bulletin board. There were about 50 different marks on the board, and none of them had been doubled, or were even in proximity to each other. She headed back to her desk and took a deep breath.

"How's it going?" Elliot asked as he walked up behind Olivia. He squeezed her shoulder, and bent down to kiss the top of her head. That usually seemed to do the trick to help Olivia relax when she was stressed and she almost let it help for a second too. She allowed herself to lean back against Elliot and take a moment, but she saw Fin and Munch enter the room, and immediately tensed up.

Feeling as though she already knew what the answers were going to be to the questions she was about to ask, she stood up anyways and headed towards the guys with Elliot.

"Liv," Munch started.

She knew that tone. Her head dropped. "No one saw anything?" She asked.

"There's God knows how many people in this city, and not one person saw a baby girl get kidnaped in broad daylight?" Elliot clenched his fists. He felt Olivia's hand grip around his, and he took a few deep breaths. Once he had settled, Olivia's hand let go, and he gave her a small smile and reached back for her hand.

"Have any tips come in?" Fin asked. Olivia shook her head. "Not any that are going to help us, unless the bastard took Ava just so he could get her a nanny, a sandwich at a deli, and a play date in Central Park."

"Elliot. Olivia. Time to head home." Cragen said, coming out of his office. "Captain?" They both asked in unison. "You've done enough today, Fin and Munch will work here for a few more hours." He said looking at the two men. Fin and Munch nodded.

"Cap, we've only been here a few hours, we're good." Elliot bargained. Cragen stared at him, and crossed his arms. Elliot got the sense he was being warned, but that didn't seem to stop him.

"That's my daughter that's missing, and we need leads, which means you need all the help you can get!"

"Elliot. My office." Cragen said through his teeth. Elliot stared at him, before leading the way. Cragen closed the door behind them, leaving Fin, Munch, and Olivia at their desks, wondering what was going to happen to Elliot this time for pushing the Captain too far.

* * *

"Sit down." Cragen directed. "Cap, I'm sorry-"

"Sit down, Elliot."

Elliot did as he was told, and sat in one of the two chairs opposite the Captains desk. Cragen paced his office for a few seconds before sitting down across from Elliot.

"I've seen how hard you two have been working this afternoon, and I have seen your faces fall each time you think you might have a lead, and then it amounts to nothing." Cragen started.

"We're almost at the 48 hour mark, Elliot." He added quietly. "I know that you are strong-willed, and so is Olivia, but…" He paused, knowing that even though he was suppose to be optimistic, he knew he had to be realistic too.

"You don't think Olivia will be able to handle it." Elliot offered. Cragen looked at him, turned away and sighed.

"Will you?"

Elliot stared at the Captain, he didn't say anything, he just walked out of the office.

"Liv, let's go get some dinner, you've been living off the vending machine all day." Elliot said to her softly.

Olivia didn't question him, or try to figure out what Cragen had told her husband in his office. She reached for her jacket and said good-bye to the guys before heading out, Elliot leading the way.

After the two had left, Cragen came out of his office and approached Fin's desk. "What have you two got?" He asked.

"A whole lot of nothing actually." Fin said shaking his head. "See if there's anything else you can dig up, or if CSU's turned up anything else, then I want you two to get some rest. I've already got two detectives losing sleep, the last thing I need is two more." Cragen said to them. "No promises." Munch replied, staring down at the photos on Olivia's desk.

* * *

Elliot wasn't sure what time it was. He knew it was sometime past midnight, but it was too early for him to be awake. The only time he was ever up at times like this was when Ava was crying- she was hungry, she needed to be changed, or she wanted to play.

It took Elliot a moment before he realized that Olivia wasn't in their bed, and from the feeling he had, she hadn't been there for a few hours. He got up and crept out of their bedroom. She wasn't in the washroom, or out in the living room. He tip-toed towards Ava's room and found the door ajar.

He found Olivia asleep in the rocking chair next to Ava's crib, her feet up on the matching foot rocker, and one of Ava's baby blankets snuggled between her arms.

The distinct scent that he was in his daughter's room hit his senses. The baby powder, tear-free shampoo, and soft sweet scent that seemed universal with babies put a small smile on Elliot's face for a minute. He walked up to Olivia and bent down next to her, placing his hand on her leg. "El?" Olivia whispered. "Yeah, Liv."

Olivia's eyes opened and she stared at her husband. She looked down at the little blanket in her hands and took a deep breath. "El…" She said one more time before breaking down. She let herself fall into him, and hugged him tightly, a steady stream of tears falling onto Elliot's chest.

Any strong-willed emotions they had been displaying at work went out the window, and for that moment, they let themselves forget that they were detectives, they were just parents.

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"You can't just release a picture of a guy to national news stations based on a guess that he's a kidnapper. That's a lawsuit waiting to happen if he turns out to be a guy who was really just sitting in the park." Casey said, clearly shocked that Fin would even suggest the idea.

"I just need _something_ to go on." Fin sighed, craning his neck from side to side. Munch had been right when he said no promises about not losing sleep. Fin had been tossing and turning for the few hours he had attempted to sleep upstairs in the cribs, and he was paying for it now.

"I know you do, but guesstimates aren't going to cut it."

"Ask and ye shall receive." Munch said as he walked into the room. Cragen, Fin, and Casey gathered around him as Munch pulled up a page on their main computer display. "CSU managed to find a small print of DNA off of the stroller that wasn't Sam's or Ava's. So I ran it through the system." He explained, typing a few words into the computer.

"Thomas Davidson?" Casey asked, staring at the screen. "Is that the guy?"

"Bares an awfully close resemblance to our park creeper, doesn't he?" Munch said, pulling up the screenshot Morales had given them.

"I know it says he's only got one count of theft, and one for trespassing, so it's a really big jump for him to suddenly be kidnapping but-"

"Doesn't matter, bring him in for questioning." Cragen said, interrupting Munch.

"We got an address on this guy?" Fin asked, grabbing his jacket. "Uh, let's see here, last known address is 512 East 64th in Brooklyn." Munch answered.

"You found her?"

Everyone turned to see Olivia standing behind them, a hopeful look on her face.

"We don't know yet. Munch and Fin are going to go check it out." Cragen explained. "Where's Elliot?"

Olivia turned to look behind her, then back at Cragen. "He was right here a second ago." Olivia said, a worried look on her face. Cragen tensed, before running to his office to grab his jacket and gun.

"He heard the address. You two- move!" Cragen shouted to Fin and Munch. "You- watch her!" Cragen directed Casey before running after his detectives, and crossed his fingers that Elliot didn't do anything stupid.


	7. Chapter 7: Stress

**Hey everyone! I hope you're not too upset for having to wait this long. A serious bout of writer's block kept me away, and this week was not as fun as it could've been. Anyways, onto the story. I'm already working on the next chapter, so I'll try to upload that one soon (a few reviews might speed up that process =P) Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the L&O SVU characters...**

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"Is that you baby? I'm almost ready!" A voice called out from the other side of the door. Elliot knocked again, harder than the first time.

"Fiesty one, hey ba-"

Before Thomas Davidson could finish his greeting, his face was introduced to Elliot's fist and he stumbled backwards into his couch. Elliot didn't waste another second before continuing. He picked Davidson up and threw him against the wall.

"Where is she?"

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"There! That's Elliot and Liv's car!" Cragen said, pointing to the silver SUV sloppily parked on the side of the street. Fin pulled the car up and the three men jumped out of the car and headed into Thomas Davidson's building.

"Where is she, you sonofabitch? Where is my daughter?"

"I don't know who you're talking about!"

They could hear the yelling and the crashing as they ran down the hallway of the second floor.

"Elliot! Hold up!" Fin shouted, the first to enter Davidson's suite. He grabbed Elliot and pushed him up against the wall.

"Killing this guy ain't gonna lead us to Ava. Take a minute." He said. Elliot stared at him, his breath short, and his face covered in sweat and a bit of blood. He pulled himself together, knowing that Fin was right, and knowing full well how upset Olivia would be if this got back to her. He nodded his head and Fin let him go.

Thomas Davidson sat up from the floor and wiped his face, feeling where he would most likely have bruises later on. He had managed to get a few hits against Elliot, but he counted himself lucky that the police officers had shown up when they had.

Munch picked the guy off of the ground, turned him, and cuffed him. "Thomas Davidson, you're under arrest for the kidnapping of Ava Stabler." He said, reading the man his rights.

"Where's your proof? I told him, there's no damn baby in here!" Davidson fought back. "Save it!" Fin said, directing him out the door with Munch.

"Detective, what were you thinking?" Cragen said as soon as he and Elliot were alone. "You come charging into someone's house and start assaulting him? Thank God we got here when we did, I don't know how far you would've gone. Of all the stupid things, Elliot-" Cragen stopped himself when he realized Elliot was barely paying attention, he was too busy scanning the room. "He was planning on skipping town. Look, he's got his bags packed." Elliot mumbled. "Elliot…" Cragen said, his tone more quiet this time.

Elliot ignored him once more and took off down the apartment hallway. "Ava! It's daddy, sweetheart!" He yelled. He ran into the bedroom, opened the closet, and checked under the bed. He ran to the bathroom, checked the cupboards in the kitchen, he even looked out on the fire escape before running into Cragen back in the living room of the apartment.

"She's not here, El." Cragen told her. "She might be. She's tiny, he could've hid her somewhere. I'm going to check the bedroom again, you check the cabinets." Elliot said. Cragen grabbed his arm before Elliot could take off down the hallway. "Elliot, look at me. She's not here. I know you want her to be here, hell I was hoping myself she was going to be sitting in the kitchen banging pots and pans when we got here, but she isn't." Cragen loosened his grip on Elliot and two stood in silence for a second.

"Where is he? Where did Davidson go?" Elliot asked, finally noticing that it was just him and the Captain in the room. "Fin and Munch already left with him back to the station. Come on." Cragen answered, heading for the door. Reluctantly, Elliot followed.

"I'm sorry about that back there, Cap." Elliot finally said, breaking the silence as he sat in the passenger seat of his SUV. Cragen had made him give over the keys to prevent any erratic driving on their way back to the precinct since he knew Elliot was going to want to watch the interrogation. He debated whether or not he would let him be present for that, considering his actions back in Davidson's apartment.

Cragen nodded, slowing down as he neared a red light. He knew this couldn't be easy on Elliot or Olivia at all, and things certainly started to be taking a toll on Elliot.

"Are you sure you and Liv are okay?" He asked. Elliot sighed, sinking back in his chair. "These have been the longest couple of days I've ever had to get through. I want to be there incase we get that phone call, or when the pieces are finally fitting together, but at the same time, if those don't pan out…" Elliot sighed. Cragen continued as the light turned green and Elliot opened his window, letting the fresh air hit his face.

Elliot glanced down in the center console and picked up a small rattle, giving it a little shake. Liv had it up front with her when she had to drive the car and shook it every time Ava would start to cry. It made for a pretty good distraction. Anytime Elliot was in the car driving, Liv automatically took the backseat, even if Ava had been sleeping. His mind wandered back to thinking if Ava would still be here if he hadn't pushed Liv into going back to work. How had he been so selfish?

"I feel like things are just starting to fall apart. Liv couldn't sleep last night, I found her in Ava's room. I couldn't even tell my kids what was going on cause I didn't want to face it… I know Fin and Munch are stressing out over having to face us every time they come back to the precinct, and the last thing I want," He paused, and rolled up his window as Cragen pulled up to the 1-6. "The last thing I want is for Fin and Munch to feel guilty if we don't find Ava." Elliot said, staring out the window at the precinct.

Cragen looked over to Elliot, unsure of whether he had meant to spill out everything to him, or if he was just thinking aloud. He had to admit that he hadn't put too much thought into what Fin and Munch would go through either if they didn't end up finding Ava. He had every hope that Ava would be home soon enough with her parents, and reminded himself that he should assure Elliot the same.

"You know that Fin and Munch are doing their best, El, and you-"

"I know they're doing their best, Cap, but I do not want to be in the position where they have to tell me they failed, if that's what it comes to. Some random detective that doesn't have to face me or my wife everyday, fine."

Cragen mulled over Elliot's words. He took the keys out of the ignition and turned to look at Elliot. "If you're going where I think you're going with this, Elliot… how about before we make any rash decisions, we see how the interrogation is going, okay?" Cragen said, opening his door and getting out. He walked around to Elliot's side and gave him his keys back so Elliot could lock the car. The horn beeped and they headed up the steps.

"What's going on?" Cragen asked as he and Elliot entered. Fin and Casey were looking over evidence on the display monitors, and Munch and Olivia were putting on their jackets. "Why aren't you questioning Davidson?"

"We were just about to head in there when the hospital called. Sam Martin is awake." Fin explained. "Okay, well I get why Munch is going down there, but I told you office duty only." Cragen said, looking to Olivia. "Sam's parents said she's asking for me personally. I doubt she'll say anything if it's just Munch that shows up. I can handle this." Olivia explained.

Cragen looked over to Elliot. He nodded. "Okay." Cragen said as the two headed out. Olivia stopped in front of Elliot before heading out. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?" He whispered. Olivia nodded, and gave Elliot a reassuring kiss before following Munch out the doors.

"Fin, you got Davidson?" Cragen called over. "On my way over right now!" Fin called, heading down the hall. "Let's go." Cragen said, following Fin and leading Elliot and Casey.

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**Thanks so much to those of you that have taken the time to let me know that you're enjoying the story. And if you haven't yet, even a quick little note means a lot for a writer. Your reviews are what keeps me going (especially after pushing through some serious writer's block, lol) =) **


	8. Chapter 8: Tragic

**Hey everyone! Here it is, chapter 8, sooner rather than later! Thanks to those of you that replied with your lovely comments and tips- you're awesome!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the L&O: SVU characters =(**

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"When are you letting me outta here? My girl's gonna be at my place wondering where I am, and we gotta be at the bus terminal at eight!" Thomas Davidson announced as Fin entered the room.

"Well I can tell you right now, that ain't happening. Now, tell me about Ava Stabler." Fin commanded, standing over Davidson.

"I don't even know who that is!" Davidson shot back, leaning onto the table. He put his elbows on the table and rested his hands on his temples, letting out a tired sigh.

"You're a liar. Let me refresh your memory." Fin said, sliding Ava's picture onto the table. Davidson moved his hands away from his eyes just enough to see the picture of a toothless grinning, blue eyed little tot staring at him.

"Oh. Her."

"Yeah _her_. Now where is she?" Fin pressed.

"I don't know." Davidson shrugged. Fin rolled his eyes. Talking to Davidson was like trying to figure out if a teenager was lying about drinking.

"I don't know where she is, honestly." Davidson said, looking up to Fin.

"He's lying!" Elliot called out from behind the two-way mirror.

"Elliot, calm down." Cragen said, nudging him.

"Well your prints were found on her stroller, which sets you at the crime scene, which leaves you as the only suspect in her kidnapping." Fin explained, pacing the room.

Fin could tell he was getting Davidson scared. The guy's breath had gotten short, his palms were sweaty, and his eyes were glancing around the room.

"Tell me where the little girl is, and maybe we can work out some sort of deal." Fin pushed.

Davidson stared down at the picture. "He paid me. He gave me pictures of the woman and said if I delivered the baby to him, I'd get six grand." Davidson admitted, looking up at Fin.

"Who's he?"

"I don't know, honest. He said the less I knew, the better. Ended up cutting me three grand, though. Probably wouldn't have paid anything, except I told him I wanted an advance. He gave me three up front, and said I'd get the other three when he got his baby." Davidson shook his head, his voice changing to an angrier tone.

"And then before I get to where we're suppose to meet up, some black SUV pulls up, a guy grabs the baby, shoves me down and drives off. He set me up to fail!" Davidson yelled. He got out of his chair and paced the small dark room.

Casey put a reassuring hand on Elliot's shoulder. "Are you sure you want to be here El?" She asked. He shrugged off her hand and shook his head.

"I'm fine, Case." He told her. Elliot tightened his fists and tried to concentrate on his breathing. He couldn't help but think how terrified his little girl must've been when everything had happened.

"So why did you use such excessive force on Sam Martin?" Fin asked.

Davidson sulked into a corner and raised an eyebrow at Fin. "What are you talking about?" He asked.

"Ava's nanny, Sam Martin. You hit her so hard they had to induce coma until her brain stopped swelling." Fin said, laying a picture of Sam down on the table.

"Something's not right." Elliot mumbled, looking over at Davidson as the guy stared at the pictures.

"Detectives? Ms. Novak?"

The three turned around to see a young woman standing behind them, extending her hand.

"Piper Cameron, I'll be representing Mr. Davidson from here on in." She smiled.

Casey got the immediate feeling Piper was straight out of law school. She raised an eyebrow at the woman, her tidy suit, briefcase and all. She'd have no trouble holding up her own against her in court, she knew it. Then again, Casey had that feeling when she went up against anyone in court.

"You won't be taking your client anywhere, we've got him on assault against Sam Martin, and kidnapping Ava Stabler." Cragen explained.

"You have an assault charge, but you know you need more proof for your second case." Piper said, heading towards the door.

"What?" Elliot asked, staring at Casey.

"The guy told me it was his ex-girlfriend and that was his daughter, but he said her name was Melissa. Who's Sam?" Davidson asked.

Fin looked to the mirror just as Piper walked in, unsure of whether Elliot or Cragen had heard Davidson's last statement.

"Don't say anything further, Mr. Davidson, this interview is over." Cameron announced looking to Fin. The two headed out of the room and Fin followed shortly after.

_Who's Melissa?_

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Olivia walked slowly down the hallway towards Sam's room. She hadn't been back to Bellevue since first discovering Ava's nanny was lying comatose a mere few feet from her. She stood outside her door, and shook her head, clearing the image out of her head.

"Liv?" Munch asked, looking over to her. It was easy to pick up on her nervousness, but the last thing he wanted to do was put pressure on her. He gave her a reassuring smile.

Olivia smiled back at him, inhaled, knocked on the door and entered Sam's room.

Sam's parents greeted Olivia when she and Munch entered the room. Munch, having met the Martin's previously, introduced the three.

"We're so sorry about your little girl. We really do hope they find her soon." Ellen smiled, rubbing the side of Olivia's arm.

"Thank you." Olivia smiled.

"Mrs. Stabler," Sam mumbled quietly. Her body looked so fragile as Olivia walked over to her. There were still bandages around her head, and a few cuts and bruises on her skin, but for the most part, she was recovering as well as expected.

"I've been telling you since day one, Sam. Call me Olivia." Olivia smiled, placing her hand over Sam's and squeezing just a bit. A small smile came over Sam's face.

"Sorry. Olivia."

"Sam, this is John Munch, I work with him at Special Victims, he and his partner, Detective Tutuola have been working together to find the man that assaulted you, and…" Olivia's voice trailed off, as she stared up at Munch. He picked up before Olivia had a chance to falter.

"We're doing our very best to make sure that you get justice. We have a suspect in custody right now, and Detective Tutuola is back at the precinct interrogating him." Munch explained, looking to Ellen and William, a sign of relief splashing across their faces.

"Did he have Ava?" Sam asked, looking up to Munch, her eyes hopeful.

Olivia had noticed that look on Sam's face. It was the same look she had every time Fin and Munch had come back to the precinct.

"No, sweetie, she wasn't there." Olivia answered quietly. Sam started to cry.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Sta- Olivia, I'm so sorry." Sam cried.

Ellen came to her daughter's side to comfort her, wiping her tears away with a tissue. "It's okay, darling. Hush." She said to her softly.

"It's okay, Sam. It's not your fault." Olivia told her quietly.

_It wasn't Sam's fault at all_, Olivia thought to herself. Ever since Ava's disappearance, Olivia felt like she was the one to blame. If only she hadn't been itching to get back to work. If only she hadn't let Elliot convince her that going back to work when she did was a good idea. If only she had been the one in the park with Ava that day- she could have protected her. _If only…_

"Liv," Munch said quietly. He didn't want to put pressure on the two ladies, but the fact that Sam had been unreachable for almost a week meant that they had some catching up to do. Olivia looked up at Munch and turned back to Sam.

"Sam, we need to talk about that day." She said to the young woman softly. Sam inhaled, grimaced slightly at the pain she was feeling, but nodded her head, and tried her best to explain that day's events.

"We started off at home, Ava had some mashed banana's and cheerios for breakfast, and then I got her dressed and changed and we headed to the library. They were doing a Sesame Street theme this week, and I thought Ava would love it." Sam smiled. Her words were spoken softly, and she struggled a bit to get so many out at once, but she knew Olivia was patient.

"Well, Ava does have a soft spot for Elmo." Olivia smiled. "Go on."

"We finished at the library, and a few of the other sitters I usually see were heading to the park, so we headed there too. I had Ava in the swings and I was talking to other's about a baby yoga class that was starting up." She paused, closing her eyes as she waited for the pain in her head to subside.

"There was this man that came up. We'd seen him there a few times, but this time he actually entered the play area, and he came up to me. He said we needed to talk, but I told him I didn't know him, so there was nothing to talk about. I thought he left…" Sam said, her voice starting to tremble.

"We finished on the swings, and Ava started to get fussy, I knew she'd be ready for her nap soon, so I decided to head home with her. I took the trail through the park, the way we always walk home. I didn't know he followed us…" Sam cried, thinking back to that day. She closed her eyes, bringing her hand to her head. The pressure of re-living those moments was getting to her.

"Sam, did he say anything more to you, before he attacked you?" Munch asked, stepping closer to her.

"He… he called me Melissa." Sam mustered before throwing her head back against her pillow. Her body started to thrash, and her machines started to beep wildly.

"Sam! Samantha! What's going on?" Ellen cried, grabbing for her daughter.

Munch and William ran into the hallway, calling for a nurse. Olivia ran to Ellen's side and pulling her away as the nurses and doctor came running into the room.

"She's having a seizure. Get them out of here!" The doctor ordered.

"Samantha!" William called out as the nurse ushered the four outside Sam's room. She closed the door and blinds and left the four standing outside, wondering what would happen next.

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**I have a horrible habit of cliffhangers... sorry =P Don't worry, the next chapter will be *sooner, rather than later* =)**

**Thanks for stopping by and reviewing!**


	9. Chapter 9: Pain

**A/N: Hi readers! Sorry for the delay in this chapter, but I'm in the final 2 weeks of class and instead of staying up late to write the next chapter, I've gotta stay up late and write presentations and study for my final. Anyways, enough about me, on to the story right?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any L&O SVU characters...**

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_Elliot headed up the steps of his apartment building, and double checked his watch. Hoping everything was alright with Olivia and Ava, he pushed his key into the door, and unlocked it. He stopped in his tracks as he opened the door. "Liv?"_

"_El? What are you doing here?"_

_There stood Olivia, just about ready to leave the apartment, a one-month old Ava asleep in her carrier, and an over-stuffed diaper bag swung around her shoulder._

"_It's five-thirty, I'm off." Elliot asked, a small smile spreading slowly over his face. "Were you just getting ready to leave?" _

_Olivia stared at him open-mouthed. She set Ava's carrier down gently and dropped the diaper bag. She looked at her watch. "How is it five-thirty? We were going to meet you for lunch." She said, confused. Olivia looked to Eliot, her hormones were still getting the best of her at times, which cause her eyes tear up._

"_We were going to meet you at one, and I thought half-an hour would be enough time to get ready, but then Ava started to fuss, so I fed her, and then I had to burp her, and she spit up on my shirt, so I had to change. Then she fell asleep, so I didn't want to put her in the car, cause I don't know, I thought it would wake her up, and it hasn't been just the two of us in the car so I didn't know how I was going to calm her down, so I thought I'd wait until she woke up, but when she did, she was fussy again, and-"_

"_Liv, it's okay." Elliot smiled, pulling her in for a hug. "It'll take some practice, but we'll get the hang of it. Listen, you have her all ready anyways, why don't we go get some dinner?" Elliot offered as he wiped away the small tears on Olivia's face._

"_Okay." Olivia said quietly. She picked up the diaper bag and quickly checked herself in the mirror by the door while Elliot picked up Ava's carrier. "You tell the guys about any of this, and there will be trouble, Elliot Stabler." She sniffed, regaining her composure. Elliot stifled his laugh and gave Olivia a small kiss. _

"_Cross my heart."_

_

* * *

_

Elliot sat on the edge of his desk, Fin was leaning back in his chair, and Casey was making herself a cup of coffee. Cragen was staring over their display monitors.

No one knew what to make of the new found discovery that Thomas Davidson had assaulted and then kidnapped a child from the wrong woman.

Casey had spoken with Piper Cameron, who had agreed to have Davidson see a sketch artist so at least they could get a good picture of the man who had Ava.

Elliot had voiced concern that it had been more than a week since Davidson had actually seen the man who hired him, so getting a good description would be hard.

"If the man is smart, which judging by the way he's set up this whole circus, he is, chances are, he's not in New York anymore." Elliot said, looking to no one in particular. He knew he was voicing the thoughts going on in everyone else's head. They were just too afraid to speak their thoughts to him.

"You and Olivia could do a tv conference. Maybe a public plea will help us find her." Casey suggested.

"Casey, a man hired an assault on a woman and kidnapped a baby. You think he's gonna watch the six o'clock news and suddenly grow a heart? If anything, knowing he's kidnapped the daughter of two police officers is going to send him off the deep end. Then who knows what he'll do next." Fin said to her.

"Fin!" Casey shot back. Her eyes glared at him, and then to Elliot. Fin slumped his shoulders.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that." Fin said quietly. He looked to Elliot apologetically. Elliot nodded his head, forgiving him for the comment.

"Has anyone called Liv or Munch to see if Sam knows who Melissa is?" Cragen asked. Elliot picked up his phone and dialed Olivia's cell.

* * *

Olivia and Munch were still standing in the hallway with Ellen and William Martin. Everyone was quiet, unsure if Sam would be stabilized, and if she would wake up right away, or need to be induced once more into a coma.

"I can't have this happen again, William. I cannot go through this again." Ellen cried into her husband's shoulder. William wrapped his arms tightly around his wife, trying his best to calm her nerves.

Olivia looked over to Munch, wondering what Ellen had meant by her statement. Before she could ask, her cellphone rang.

"Do you want to get them coffee, and then we'll take them to sit down? I want to know what Ellen's talking about." Olivia whispered. Munch nodded his head and looked for a coffee machine, or signs of a cafeteria.

Olivia stared at the picture ID on her phone, Elliot sleeping on the couch, a tuckered out Ava laying across his chest.

"Hey, El." Olivia said softly into the phone.

"How's it going at the hospital? Are you getting anywhere with Sam?" Elliot asked, hoping that Olivia would have some answers to the questions that arose when Davidson was being interrogated.

"Well, she told us what happened, right up to Davidson catching up to her in the park, and then she had a seizure." Olivia explained, walking out of earshot of the Martins'.

"Are you serious? Is she okay?"

"We don't know yet. The doctors and nurses are in her room now. The only thing that's sticking out in my mind is that right before she seized, she mentioned that Davidson called her Melissa." Olivia explained.

"That's the last thing to come out of Davidson's mouth too. He was pretty shocked when Fin told him Sam's name. Any ideas on who Melissa is?" Elliot sighed. Olivia and Munch had gotten to the same spot he and Fin had, which was disappointing to say the least.

"I might. We're going to speak to Sam's parents. They mentioned something while we were standing in the hall. I should get back to them." Olivia said, watching Munch as he offered cups of coffee to the Martin's.

"Okay, I'll let you go." Elliot paused. "How are you doing? Were you okay, listening to Sam talk about that day?"

Olivia fell quiet for a moment. She had put herself into Sam's shoes, standing in the trail being confronted by Davidson. She could see Ava crying in her stroller. Olivia shook the thought out of her head.

"Yeah, I'm okay, El. I'll see you in a bit okay?"

After finishing the call, Olivia joined Munch and the Martin's, just as the doctor and nurses came out of Sam's room.

"Mr. and Mrs. Martin, I'm Dr. Roman." The doctor announced, extending his hand to Ellen and William.

"How's our daughter, Dr. Roman?" William asked, placing his arm around his wife.

"We've stabilized Sam. Her seizure was most likely related to stress, and the fact that she still hasn't fully recovered. We've mildly sedated her, so anything that would cause Sam to stress," The doctor looked over to Olivia and Munch. "Should be left alone for the time being. Best to give her time to rest." He smiled, walking away with nurses.

A look of relief washed over Ellen and William's faces. Their daughter was going to be okay.

"Ellen, William, could we sit down and chat?" Olivia asked.

"This is too much today, Detective. Could we talk tomorrow?" William asked, looking over to Ellen. His wife was still visibly shaken, and growing more upset.

Olivia bit her lip. She knew the stress that the Martin's were under, nearly losing their daughter twice. She was just about to nod her head when Munch spoke.

"Mr. and Mrs. Martin, I know you've both gone through a horrible situation today, and it has you a bit shaken up, but it would greatly help us if you could just answer a few more questions tonight. My colleague just wants to find her baby. It's been almost a week of us searching. Just a few minutes, please?"

Olivia looked to Munch, and to the Martin's. Ellen and William looked to each other, then to Olivia, a small pleading smile on her face. The Martin's nodded in agreement and the four walked to a quiet waiting area and sat down.

After taking a moment to calm her nerves, Ellen looked over to Olivia and Munch. Her eyes started to tear, and she looked to William. He held onto her hand and looked to the detectives.

"Melissa is our daughter. She's Sam's twin sister." William explained while Ellen pulled a picture from her wallet. She passed the picture of two identical teenage girls to Olivia and Munch.

Olivia and Munch were shocked. Sam had a twin sister? They stared at each other, the same thoughts running through their head. It suddenly felt too easy.

"Do you know where Melissa is?" Munch asked. If they could find Melissa Martin, she could tell them about any ex-boyfriends.

_One of them would almost certainly have Ava_, Munch thought to himself.

"Melissa passed away. It'll be a year in 3 months."

Olivia and Munch looked back at each. "We're so sorry for your loss, Mr. and Mrs. Martin." Munch said to them softly. The couple nodded and replied with smiles.

_How unfortunate for them lose one daughter and then go through such a traumatic experience only a year later,_ Munch thought. Sadly enough, he knew experiences like this were not rare- the proof was in his job.

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**Was that who you were expecting Melissa to be? You'll find out more about her in the next chapter... Which will be up soon! (Promise!) Thanks for reading and reviewing =) Happy Weekend!**


	10. Chapter 10: Assumptions

**Disclaimer: I do not own L&O: SVU.**

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the delay. Been crazy busy with the end of school. All is well now, so here you go...  
**

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"Sam and Melissa both attended Hudson University after graduating. Sam seemed to get herself situated right away, she made new friends, was doing great in her courses." Ellen explained. She lowered her eyes, staring down at the photo of her two little girls, "Melissa though, she struggled. The workload was proving difficult, she started getting involved in the wrong crowd…"

"When we brought it up with her, she got defensive. I told her if she didn't smarten up, we wouldn't pay her tuition." William said. His voice that had started off strained with anger suddenly softened, "I don't know why I thought a threat would steer her back on track. It wasn't like we could ground her anymore."

William sighed. The lines on his face weren't so much for getting older, they were for all the times he had been stricken with worry about his daughter. "Melissa didn't go back to Hudson the following semester. She moved in with some friends, she cut us off, saying that if we wouldn't support her, she didn't _need_ us." William scoffed.

"Sam talked with her every now and then, but they would just fight. Sam couldn't understand why Melissa was being the way she was. By the time summer had come, we had lost complete touch with her. The last Sam had heard, she'd moved out of state with her boyfriend. We didn't hear from her again for awhile. Until last year." William explained, looking to the detectives.

"Is that when Melissa passed away?" Olivia asked.

"We were having Sunday dinner, Sam had come home for the weekend with some girls from school. A police officer came to the door." Ellen explained.

"Those years she was gone, she never changed the address on her license. Can you imagine if she had? We would have never known." William said quietly, his eyes lost in a daze. "She died in a car accident, about a twenty minute drive away from our home."

Olivia reached over and placed a hand on top of the Martin's intertwined hands, "I'm so sorry." She whispered softly.

"We were going to be grandparents. When we spoke to the person who… who examined Melissa after the accident, that's what she told us. We were going to have a grandson." Ellen added. The heartache Olivia and Munch could see in her eyes was almost too much to make contact. Munch dropped his head, his heart filled with sorrow for the family.

William gently patted Ellen's back, then wiped a tear away from his eye. He looked over to Munch. "You find that baby. The pain of losing a daughter is not something I would wish on anyone."

* * *

"No kidding…" Cragen said, shocked at the story that Olivia and Munch had told the guys at 1-6 after returning from the hospital. Casey had headed home earlier, wanting to get some work done for Thomas Davidson's impending trial.

"Is Sam going to be alright?" Cragen asked, concerned about the young lady's afternoon ordeal.

"She should be fine. The doctor just said to leave the _stressful_ stuff for a few more days until she's had a bit more recovery time." Olivia answered. She still felt horrible about the ordeal Sam had gone through. She felt even worse for triggering a seizure in the poor girl.

"There's still some Chinese upstairs if you're hungry." Elliot offered Olivia. She looked up from her desk and nodded, grateful that Elliot had saved her some food. Her stomach had been rumbling since had gotten to the hospital, and after hearing Ellen and William's story of their daughter, she felt weird asking Munch to stop for a burger.

Olivia got up from her seat and followed Elliot up the stairs, while Cragen went and discussed an idea of his with Fin and Munch.

"What's on your mind?" Elliot asked once he and Olivia had seated themselves upstairs. Olivia looked up from her box of chow mein, and shrugged. She set the take-out box on the table and Elliot put his chair closer to her.

"I just feel like we're failing. We're running in circles trying to find a lead, or something that will give us our next clue in finding Ava. And at the same time, I'm worried sick about whether or not Sam is going to be okay, and how her parents are going to handle everything." She said with a sigh.

"You should've seen how upset they were Elliot, and I mean, they had every right- one daughter dies, and they're forever left wondering if she was really coming home that night. Then they have to go through waiting for Sam to wake up, and then I go and trigger a seizure!"

"Liv!" Elliot said, placing his hands on her knees. "That wasn't your fault. And Sam is going to be fine, you said so yourself."

Elliot could tell Olivia was getting more frustrated than usual. It didn't help that she hadn't been sleeping very well at night, and Elliot knew it was going to cause her more grief to now have Sam's story replaying in her head.

"What about Fin and Munch?" Olivia asked quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"El, we have them running around here trying to find our daughter, Cap's too terrified to let us out of here unless he's sending us home. I doubt they've gotten any more sleep than we have. What if they can't find her? What if… what if we can't find her?" Olivia said, a small sniffle escaping her. She stared into Elliot's eyes, terrified that the idea she had just suggested might actually be a possibility. Elliot took her face in his hands, and leaned into her.

"Liv, we're going to find her. I promise." He smiled and gave her a small kiss. Olivia smiled back. "I'll talk to Cap and see what he thinks we should do. Have some more food, I bet they can hear your stomach downstairs." Elliot grinned.

"Liv?" Fin called up the stairs. "Can you come here for a minute?"

Olivia took one last bite of her food before she and Elliot headed down the stairs.

"What's up?" She asked, walking over to the display monitors where Fin, Munch, and Cragen were standing.

"When were you pregnant with Ava?" Munch asked.

"She was born in July last year. Why? What'd you find?" Olivia asked, looking over the monitor.

"She was born in July, which means in April, this time last year, you were six months pregnant?" Munch asked.

"Yeah."

"How do you not remember that? Liv was eating the doughnuts before we even set the box down in the morning." Fin said, smacking Munch's shoulder. "I had to bring a private stash." Fin smiled, looking to Olivia. She gave him a small smile, then looked back to Munch.

"Well, Melissa Martin's autopsy showed that she was approximately six months pregnant at the time of death- April of last year." Munch said, pointing to the notes displayed in Melissa Martin's file.

"We were pregnant at the same time." Olivia said, looking at the screen.

"Did the Martin's ever meet Melissa's boyfriend?" Cragen asked. Olivia shook her head.

"They would've had no way of getting in contact with him. There was no funeral, just a memorial with family and close friends of theirs." Olivia replied. She could feel her adrenaline starting to kick in. There was a piece of the puzzle that was starting to come together.

"So this guy's girlfriend gets pregnant, and then one night she disappears. Then she just happens to reappear almost a year later with a baby, acting like nothing's happened." Munch suggested. He looked around to the others. "I'd be pretty mad."

"Mad enough to kidnap your own daughter and have the girlfriend assaulted?" Cragen asked.

"Well, we won't know until we find Melissa's ex-boyfriend." Fin shrugged.

"Melissa Martin was having a boy though. What if he knew the sex?" Olivia asked.

"Not everyone wants to know as soon as they can know." Elliot smiled, leaning into her, "Let's not knock the lead until the guys look into it." Olivia smiled back and nodded her head. Elliot was right. She had a chance to be optimistic about the case, and already she was pushing it away, scorned by everything else that had happened.

"Alright, well this is going to be a needle in a haystack, let's get to work." Cragen announced.

Olivia looked over to Elliot. He nodded and pulled Cragen off to the side while Fin and Munch went to their computers. "Cap, can I talk to you in your office?"

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**What's Elliot going to ask Cragen? You'll find out in the next chapter (if you haven't figured it out already). Thanks for your reviews, your words of awesome mean a lot =)**


	11. Chapter 11: Change

**A/N: Hi all, here's the next chapter. As always, thanks for stopping by, and thanks for your reviews =)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own L&O SVU. Dang.**

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"Here's what's going on." Cragen started, closing the door after inviting Fin and Munch in to his office. After speaking to Elliot, he had sent him and Olivia home for the rest of the night. "We're going to send the case over to Missing Persons."

"What?" Fin and Munch asked simultaneously.

"It was a choice of Elliot and Olivia's, we need to respect it." Cragen sat down in his chair and folded his hands. He knew this was going to be upsetting, and he had even been shocked to hear Elliot's request, but he knew their reasons, and hoped Fin and Munch would be understanding.

"If- and I plan on this being a very big _if,_ we don't find Ava, Elliot and Liv do not want that resting on your shoulders." Cragen explained.

"We just got our first big lead after finding Davidson, we could find someone who knew Melissa Martin tomorrow and Ava back tomorrow night!" Munch argued.

"And not resting on our shoulders? I didn't _ever_ plan on stopping the search until that little girl was found. This is like a slap in the face, Captain- why'd you let them do that?" Fin shouted.

"Because not only was it a request from them, but One P.P was breathing down my neck about keeping a Missing Persons case when it wasn't related to Special Victims! I held them off for as long as I could, hoping we'd find Ava in time, but we don't really get a choice now." Cragen explained. He watched Fin and Munch both collapse back into their chairs and sigh.

"Listen, I did convince One P.P to let you two stay on as advisors, which I didn't tell Liv or Elliot. Any news on the case, any interviews with suspects, reports that are done, will all go through the two of you. I know you two want to find her, and you will."

Fin immediately had felt defensive, and angry towards Elliot, thinking it was his idea to take him off the case. He knew that was the wrong way to look at things; Putting himself into his shoes, Fin knew he probably wouldn't want to hold his friends responsible for finding his missing child, if- knock on wood, something bad happened.

"So what now? Do we just go back to working on SVU cases?" Munch asked. He wondered if Casey would still be able to hold onto Davidson's case, or if it would be passed to the other unit's ADA.

"Take the rest of tonight off, come back tomorrow. You can brief a team in Missing Person's, then come back here and get to work." Cragen replied. He knew it was going to be a weird feeling for the detectives, having to work on a case while a group of almost strangers searched for Ava, but more eyes would be good for the case.

"And Liv and Elliot?" Munch asked.

"They're off until next week. Then, they can stay on leave, or come back to work, that will be their decision."

* * *

"Do you think we made the right choice?" Olivia asked as she and Elliot walked into their apartment. She dropped her keys in the little dish next to the closet and hung up her jacket and Elliot's.

"I think the guys will understand." He replied. He was fairly certain Fin was going to think it was his idea- and he was right, but he knew better than to put that much pressure on a co-worker. No, that much pressure on a friend.

Olivia walked over to the kitchen where their phone was and clicked the blinking light on their answering machine.

"You have two new messages!" The automated machine announced, "First message!"

"Hey Liv, and El. It's Melinda. I've been so swamped; I only just heard the news when Casey called. I'm so sorry to hear about Ava. Liv, call me when you get a minute, I hope you two are okay. You'll have her back soon! Hugs."

Olivia looked over to Elliot and smiled, "That was nice of her to call."

"Second message!"

"Hi daddy, it's me." Kathleen's worried voice sniffled. "I was just calling to see if everything was okay… call me back okay? Tell Livie I love her."

Elliot looked down at his watch. It was too late to call his daughter back tonight. He knew the stress of the situation would get to Kathleen more than the others, so he made a mental note to make sure he called her in the morning.

"Are you ready for bed?" Elliot asked, loosening his tie and heading towards the bedroom.

"Yeah." Liv answered. She shut off the lights in the kitchen and headed towards their room. She stopped momentarily in front of Ava's bedroom. The faint smell of her baby's nursery wafted towards her, and she smiled. She closed her eyes inhaled deeply, letting her mind wander back to all the times before- when she would greet Ava in the morning, or when she would sleepily come into the nursery in the middle of the night when Ava had a hard time sleeping. Olivia shook the thoughts from her head before she reached for the doorknob. She pulled the door shut, scared to let in any fresh air that might take the scent away.

Olivia looked up at the painted wooden letters on Ava's bedroom door. She traced her fingers lightly over the pastel colored letters, before letting out a small sigh. She headed to her bedroom and shut the door.

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**I know, it's a short chapter, but I had to fit this part of the story in before we jump to the next part (which will be up soon- promise!).**


	12. Chapter 12: A Year Later

**A/N: I jumped ahead... don't hate me. Please?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any L&O SVU characters.**

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_A Year Later (June)_

In the time that had gone by, not much had changed in Ava's case. Fin and Munch were still checking in with Missing Persons, but the unit endured a never-ending struggle to find leads. A few men had been questioned, but it had never gone further than that.

Olivia and Elliot followed websites for missing children, constantly checking if anyone had submitted new tips. They had also gone to speak with George Huang, at the request of the Captain, although Olivia was the only one to find the conversation useful. Any emotional pain Elliot felt had been taken out on morning runs, or during a stressful case- the perpetrator he had been questioning.

On a hot summer night in July, Olivia and Elliot had blown out the candle on a cupcake before being surprised by their co-workers showing up at their home. Fin, Munch, Cragen, Melinda and Casey had shown up with wrapped presents they placed in Ava's room for her to open when she came home. Olivia and Elliot had felt truly grateful to have the friends they had.

"Olivia?"

Casey entered SVU and headed straight for her friend's desk.

Olivia closed the folder she had been working on and stretched in her chair, "Hey, Case."

"Ready to go?" Casey asked, as Elliot headed towards the two ladies.

"Where you two going?" He asked.

Casey looked to Olivia, who turned to Elliot.

"I'm gonna go grab lunch with Casey." Olivia replied, getting out of her chair and grabbing her jacket. "Girls date. I'll bring you back something?" She asked, before Elliot had his chance to invite himself. Luckily, Elliot smiled.

"Sure."

Olivia walked around to Elliot's desk and gave him a small kiss before she and Casey headed out.

* * *

"I feel like I'm in highschool." Olivia sighed, pacing the living room of her apartment. Casey checked her watch.

"Liv, settle down. You're making me nervous." Casey said to her friend.

Olivia shot her a look, "You're nervous?" She asked. Casey smiled and patted the cushion next to her on the couch. Olivia came over and the two sat in dead silence until the timer on the coffee table went off.

Olivia and Casey both leaned over the coffee table and Casey picked up the small stick, "Negative," She read, handing the piece of plastic to Olivia, "not pregnant."

Olivia leaned back against the couch and let out a sigh. Casey leaned back against the couch and looked over at Olivia. "Liv?"

Olivia held up the small stick, looking at the _Not Pregnant_ displayed on it. She threw it back on the coffee table.

"You know, for the longest time, I wanted that perfect little family. The great guy, two kids, maybe three. Maybe a dog." Olivia started. The thought of a happy, suburban family brought a small smile to her face, but quickly vanished as she continued, "The other night when we had sex, all I could think of was, 'Shit, I could get pregnant right now.' And that terrified me. I always thought we'd have one more after Ava, so she could have a brother or sister close to her age, but having another baby now, I'd feel like I'm replacing her." Olivia looked over to Casey and sighed.

Casey pulled her into a hug and patted her back. She smiled sympathetically after she pulled away, "Liv, you know you wouldn't be replacing your daughter. And you don't have to stop having sex with Elliot just because you're scared you might get pregnant. Tell him to use a condom, or go back on the pill."

Olivia rolled her eyes and got up off the couch, "Whoever would've thought I'd be terrified of Elliot getting me pregnant?" She shook her head and grabbed the pregnancy test off the coffee table and stuffed it back into the box.

Casey frowned as she watched Olivia. Her friend had gone through so much pain in the last year; it certainly hadn't been easy. Casey was glad to be there to help Olivia when she could, especially on a day like today. She had gotten a text from Olivia earlier that morning, and immediately had worked it into her schedule to help her friend out.

"C'mon, I better put food in you so Elliot doesn't suspect anything. There's a mean growl that comes out of you when you haven't eaten." Casey said, with a small laugh, getting up off the couch. Olivia turned to her and nodded.

"And I'm assuming you want to dispose of that somewhere that isn't here?" Casey asked, pointing to the small cardboard box in Olivia's hand.

"That would probably be a good idea." Olivia replied as the two headed out the door.

* * *

"How's everything going? How are you and Elliot?" Casey asked as she picked at her salad. She reached across and stole a piece of chicken from Olivia's plate. "I feel bad, I'm sorry Liv. I really should be around more often. You know, as a friend. Moral support, and all that."

"It's fine, Casey. In fact, I'd probably feel more awkward if you were checking in on me everyday. I already get it from the guys." Olivia replied. She moved the food on her plate around, not really feeling hungry. Her mind was all over the place, thinking about what would have happened had the test said she was pregnant, and if she really was relieved that she wasn't expecting again.

"Liv?" Casey pressed. Olivia shook her head, remembering Casey's question.

"We're good. There was a bit of a rough patch after the Becker case, but we got through it." Olivia replied, referring to a few months back in February.

Elliot had taken a sick day, so Olivia had been assigned a case with Fin. What they didn't know until arriving at the scene was that the victim had been a small, brown haired, blue-eyed toddler. Olivia nearly had a nervous breakdown at the crime scene before Fin had rushed her away from everyone, and called Elliot telling him to get out of bed and down to the station. Olivia hadn't slept until DNA tests came back saying the little girl wasn't Ava, but the pain and stress of the case had reinstated all the fears Olivia had managed to subdue since Ava's disappearance.

"Other than that, I suppose things are running as smoothly as they can." Olivia replied. She smiled at Casey before checking her cellphone. "We should head back to the precinct, I've got lots of work to do." She added. Casey nodded and waived down their waiter.

"Thanks, Casey." Olivia said softly, looking to her friend.

Casey looked up from signing the bill, "It's just lunch, Liv. You've got the next one." She chuckled.

Olivia rolled her eyes, "For being here. You're a really good friend."

* * *

"Detective Tutuola?"

Fin raised his hand and the young man that had called out his name came towards him and extended his hand, "Liam Macdonald, from Missing Persons."

Fin shook the fellow detectives hand, "Something you guys need help with?" He asked.

"Actually, The Times contacted us about running an article of missing people in New York, and we're going to run Ava Stabler's photo in there. Anyways, I've been sent here to confirm the photo we were initially given for Ava Stabler, and also if we could get you to sign off on the age enhanced photo as well, we can add it to the submission for the paper." Macdonald explained. The last part of his explanation immediately caught the attention of Cragen, and Munch and the two headed over to check the folder that Macdonald held in his hand.

The three men smiled down at the photo. Instead of a small tuft of hair, there was now a full head of dark brown hair, and the little girl had a smile with a mouth full of teeth.

"Olivia's mini-me." Cragen said, noting pretty much every feature of Ava's was a tiny version of Olivia's- nose, lips, cheek bones.

"Stabler's eyes though." Munch added.

"Stabler's what?" Elliot asked, walking into the room. Fin closed the folder, and the three men looked up.

"What are you guys doing?"

Cragen nodded to Fin and the detective handed Elliot the folder. "This is Liam Macdonald," Fin said, pointing to the young man, "He's from Missing Persons. They're running an article in the paper, he wanted us to confirm Ava's photos, the original and the age enhanced one."

Elliot opened the folder and stared down at the pictures. He exhaled deeply as he stared down at the photo. His little girl was the spitting image of his wife, and it broke his heart that he couldn't hold her. He closed the folder and handed it back to Macdonald.

"That's fine. Thank you." Elliot said to him, walking back to his desk. Macdonald nodded to Fin, Cragen and Munch and headed towards the door.

"Hey, when are you guys running that?" Elliot asked.

"It'll be in Friday's paper, sir." Macdonald replied before leaving.

_Good_, thought Elliot. He and Olivia would be leaving Thursday afternoon, to go visit the older Stabler kids in Chicago, and he knew the last thing they needed was people asking him and Olivia questions about Ava. They had handled enough pain in the last year, so this trip's timing couldn't have come at a better time in Elliot's opinion.

* * *

**Thanks for those of you that have reviewed, it's very much appreciated =)**


	13. Chapter 13: Downtime

**Apologies! It's been awhile hasn't it? Time to get things moving again...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own L&O SVU =(**

* * *

"On the road again!" Elliot sang, smirking at Olivia. He pulled their SUV out of its parking spot and headed for the highway on their way to Boston.

"You locked the doors right?" Olivia asked, staring at their building in the side view mirror.

"Yes. Locked the windows, the doors, all of it. For the fiftieth time."

Olivia playfully hit the side of his arm.

"I can't wait to see the kids. They're pretty excited we're coming up there. We haven't seen them since…" Elliot thought back in his head.

"Spring Break, last year. Well, that's when we saw them all together." Olivia answered.

Olivia knew it was hard for Elliot to be at such a distance to his older kids. He was very dedicated to his Skype chats, but talking online just wasn't the same as seeing the kids face to face. Since Ava's disappearance, Olivia had even noticed he put more effort into talking to each of his kids individually, online or on the phone. The kids had put more effort in as well, especially Maureen and Kathleen, knowing how much their dad was worried about their little sister.

"What are you thinking about?" Elliot asked, glancing over at Olivia. He placed his right hand over the center console, his palm facing upwards.

Olivia placed her hand over his, entwining her fingers and smiled to Elliot, "You."

Elliot pulled into the parking lot at their hotel and turned off the car. Olivia had fallen asleep over an hour ago, and he hated to wake her. She looked so peaceful, with her head tilted against the window, mumbling words under her breath. Elliot smiled and reached a hand over to nudge Olivia awake, but stopped when he heard her whisper their daughter's name.

He looked up in his rearview mirror and stared at the backseat. They had long since taken the car seat out and cleared away the toys and stuffies that had littered the back of the car. Except for one. Elliot pulled open the center console and saw the small rattle Olivia had refused to take out of the car. He smiled and closed the lid, and the sound awoke Olivia.

"Are we here? Sorry El, I should've kept you company." Olivia apologized. She stifled a yawn stretched her arms out. She offered Elliot a half smile, which he returned by squeezing her hand.

"It's okay." He shrugged.

"Did you call Kathy yet?" Olivia asked, as she hopped out of the car.

"I'll call her once we check in." Elliot replied, as he helped Olivia unload their luggage out the back of the car.

* * *

"Dad!" Lizzie cried out as she opened the door. She bounded straight into her dad's arms and hugged him tight. Once she let go of him, she greeted Olivia with a hug just as tight.

"Everyone's out in the back. Tim's barbecuing burgers, and hot dogs, and I think mom's making a salad. Well, Maureen and Henry aren't here yet, but she called and said they'd be here in an hour." Lizzie explained as she led her dad and Olivia through the main hallway and out onto the deck.

"Look who's here!" Lizzie announced, stepping onto the deck. Dickie and Kathleen got up from their seats to greet Elliot and Olivia. Kathy headed over from the table and hugged the two.

She had long since made peace with Olivia, as she and Elliot had both tried their best to remain amicable after the divorce for the sake of their kids. She had struggled from time to time, and expected the two to never have a perfect relationship, but they always managed to put aside differences to come together as a family for the kids.

They spent the next few minutes being introduced to Kathy's boyfriend, Tim, and Kathleen's boyfriend, Mark, and after the late arrival of Maureen and Henry, everyone was seated around the table enjoying their dinner.

"So Elliot, guess who made the Dean's List after her first year of college?" Kathy smiled, looking to Kathleen.

"I heard! We're very proud!" Elliot replied, smiling to Kathleen. She blushed from the sudden attention she had garnered from everyone, but thanked the family for their well wishes.

Elliot and Olivia continued to catch up with the kids, finding out from Maureen what life was like after college, and all about what being a Junior was going to be like for Lizzie and Dickie once they headed back to school in September.

They had managed to keep the conversation going well on into the evening, past dessert and drinks, Elliot soaking up as much information and interaction from his kids as he could get.

Olivia couldn't help but smile and laugh along, recounting stories of Elliot's parenting mishaps from the kids' younger days, and joking with Kathy about Elliot's own mishaps and accidents. It was times like these where she was happy to be a part of a family, and times like these when she could laugh and talk, and for a little while, she could forget about the pain.

Later on in the evening after Maureen and Henry had headed home, Lizzie and Dickie had headed out with a group of friends from school, and Olivia had offered to help Kathy tidy the kitchen, Elliot found himself with his arm around Kathleen as they sat in the swinging chair on the deck.

"So dad, I applied to transfer my credits to Hudson."

"What? As in, Hudson in New York?" Elliot asked, staring down at Kathleen. His daughter was already at a good school, a school where she was achieving high academic status.

"Yeah. I miss New York. I miss my old friends. And I really miss you, dad." Kathleen said to him softly.

"I miss you too, kiddo," Elliot replied, placing a small kiss on top of his daughter's head, "But are you sure you want to move back? What did your mom say about this?"

"I already told her all the details. I'd still come back here for holidays and stuff. Well, I'd switch between you and mom, but the advisor I spoke to at Hudson said that my marks are good enough that I'll be able to get a partial or full scholarship, and I can stay in residence, so I won't be a bother to you and Liv." Kathleen told him.

"Kathleen, you wouldn't be a burden to us, you know that." Elliot said to her gently. Kathleen nodded.

"I know dad. I think I'd have a bit more fun in residence though." She smiled. Elliot raised his eyebrows and Kathleen laughed, "I mean, I'll come over on some weekends and stuff, you know, get you to do my laundry, raid your fridge for groceries. I could even babysit when Ava comes back home."

Elliot smiled at his daughter and gave her a hug, "It'll be good to have you close to home, sweetheart."

"I love you, dad."

"I love you, too."

* * *

**Yes, I know. It was a pretty short chapter, but this is just kind of filler to get back into the swing of things. Hopefully there's still a few of you interested in this story- if you are, review and let me know =)**


	14. Chapter 14: Possibilities

**Disclaimer: I don't own L&O SVU =(**

**A/N: Wow! Thanks for all of those wonderful reviews after the last chapter- good to know we've still got something going on here. So since today is my day off, I figured you'd enjoy the next chapter- enjoy!**

* * *

Even on vacation, Olivia found it hard to sleep in. She wasn't sure what time it was exactly, but that fact that Elliot was still in bed with her indicated that it was pretty early. She would've tried to get up, but Elliot's arm was comfortably wrapped around her midsection, and on the rare occasion that he was getting some extra rest, she didn't want to wake him. She reached down and placed her hand gently over Elliot's and smiled, letting her mind wander to Ava again…

_Elliot was in the shower, after an early morning run. Olivia had felt like she could've slept all day, except an early morning phone call had woken her up, and she knew she couldn't actually spend the day in bed, so she got up and started to get ready for work. _

_ Olivia stared at herself in the full-length mirror hanging next to the closet, dressed in a pair of Elliot's boxers, and an old NYPD shirt. _

_ "Good morning." Elliot smiled, walking up behind her. Olivia let herself lean back against him and Elliot wrapped his arms around her waist. "I didn't think you'd be awake for another half an hour." Elliot said to her._

_ "The phone rang, and I couldn't go back to sleep after that, so I figured I'd wait for you to get out of the shower." Olivia replied, smiling at the mirror. She placed her hands over Elliot's and leaned in to softly kiss her neck. "It was the doctor that called." She added. Elliot pulled away and stared at Olivia's reflection._

"_Everything okay?" He asked._

_ Olivia's hands gripped tighter over Elliot's and she smiled, "I'm pregnant."_

"Good morning," Elliot said softly squeezing Olivia closer to him. Olivia smiled and turned her head slightly back towards Elliot for a morning kiss.

"Did I wake you up?" Olivia asked, turning to face him.

"Of course not. Was I snoring again?"

"Not any more than usual." Olivia smiled, "I just had a whole bunch of stuff spinning in my head, I didn't sleep that well."

Elliot frowned, "What's going on?"

"Remember when I went for lunch with Casey?" Olivia asked. Elliot nodded, and Olivia took a deep breath, "I took a pregnancy test."

Elliot's eyes fell, and the room was quiet for a moment before he looked back to her.

"Liv, are you pregnant?"

Olivia looked at him, her eyes starting to fill up with tears. She shook her head.

"I was just scared. That night after we went for drinks with the guys, and you didn't use a condom, and I haven't been on the pill. I'm sorry El, I should've told you- it's been eating me up inside." Olivia explained, her voice starting to break down.

"Liv, it's okay. It's nothing to be scared of. I'm not mad." Elliot said to her softly.

"I know, I just felt bad for hiding it like some terrible secret. I was so scared that it was going to say that I was, and I just… I didn't want to get pregnant without Ava being home." Olivia wiped her eyes, reaching across Elliot for a tissue on the nightstand.

After letting Olivia wipe her tears, Elliot pulled her close against his chest, held her tight and kissed the top of her head.

"Listen, we should've known better, we're not teenagers, next time we'll be safe. The last thing I want to see is you worrying about more than you need to." Elliot replied.

"I'm sorry, El."

"Hey, don't be sorry. I love you, always have. Always will."

* * *

Sofia James smiled as she saw a customer approaching her at the front till. "Hello! Did you find everything you were looking for today?" She smiled.

"Toys!" Exclaimed the little girl excitedly as she watched her mother place the items on the table for Sofia.

"Yes, you got quite a bit today, didn't you, lucky girl?" Sofia asked. She loved chatting with the little kids that came into her store, and the little girl standing opposite her was no exception. The toddler smiled and nodded her head excitedly.

"We decided to surprise daddy for a visit, and forgot to bring a few things with us in our mad dash to the airport yesterday." The woman laughed.

"Ah, well, you'll definitely need some of the essentials for a fun vacation." Sofia replied, placing the items into shopping bags. "She's so adorable!" She gushed, watching as the little girl danced around her mother.

Sofia finished ringing through the purchases and rang through the woman's credit card.

"Thank you for shopping at Dandelion!" Sofia smiled, handing the woman her receipt. She watched as the woman organized the bags and then reached out for her daughter's hand.

"Say goodbye, Natalie."

"Bye!" The little girl waved. Sofia waved back and smiled at the two exiting the store.

"Oh my gosh, was that the cutest little girl ever, or what?" Sofia gushed to her co-worker.

"Sof, you say that about every little girl!" Her friend laughed.

"Yeah, but Kat, that little girl was the cutest one. Did you see her eyes? Gorgeous!"

"Sofia, Katerina? You two can take your lunch break now, I'll call you if I need some help." The girls' manager announced as she walked back into the store. The two girls headed to the back staff room and sat down at the table with their lunches.

Sofia rummaged through the papers on the table, looking for her daily fix of comics and horoscopes, but paused on an article that stuck out on the front page.

"Aww, did you see this? The kids missing from New York?" Sofia asked, her eyes wandering over the pictures of babies, children and teenagers. Kat nodded her head absentmindedly. "Holy snap, Kat! Look!" Sofia said, shoving the paper in her friends face.

"What?" Kat asked, searching the page, "Did you see yourself?" She laughed.

"No, look, here. Doesn't she look just like the little girl that was just in here?"

Kat stared at the picture on the page and shrugged, "I don't know, I didn't really get a good look at her."

"I wonder if that's her…" Sofia said quietly, staring at the picture.

"Call them." Kat shrugged.

"Yeah right, can you imagine if that's not her? Oh my gosh, her mom would freak out on me- _I'd_ freak out on me. Nah, nevermind." Sofia said, turning the page.

"Are you kidding me, Sof? You were dead set a second ago that that picture was the little girl just in here. What if it is her? Really, you should call." Kat said to her, turning the newspaper page back to stare down at the little girl.

Sofia stared down at the picture too. She knew she'd have a guilty conscience otherwise. And it was just a phone call after all…


	15. Chapter 15: Motion

**Disclaimer: I still don't own L&O: SVU**

**A/N: Wow... can't believe we've gone this long without an update. Sorry about that gang! Hopefully some of you are still interested, and maybe we'll even pick up a few new readers =) **

* * *

With each ring of the phone, Sofia trembled. Part of her hoped that nobody picked up, and she could sigh and say that it wasn't meant to be, but part of her was trembling because of the adrenaline and the fact that she might have the answers someone else needed. She let out a deep breath as a voice answered,

"Missing Persons. Officer Macdonald."

"Uh hi, I'm not too sure who I'm supposed to talk to. I was looking at the newspaper today. The one with the pictures?" Sofia explained nervously on the phone. She looked to Kat, who smiled and gave her friend a thumbs-up.

"I think one of the kids came into the store I work at."

"The article we ran in The Times? Well, we have a few different officers assigned to each case. Which picture was it that stood out to you? I can direct you to the officer assigned to the case." The officer at the other of the end of line replied. Sofia could hear him rustling papers and imagined he must've had a desk filled with tons of pictures of missing kids. She truly hoped she was doing the right thing.

"Uh, well, she didn't go by the name that was in the paper. Her mom- or I guess, the lady that she was with, called her… Natalie?" Sofia pulled the newspaper on the table closer to her, double checking the photo and corresponding name. "But she's in the newspaper as Ava Stabler."

* * *

"Gentleman, is there something I can help you find this afternoon?"

Munch and Fin walked into Dandelion looking very much out of place. The last time they'd been into a store like this was for Olivia's baby shower, and even then, they'd just given the lady a price range and told her to pick something.

"Yeah, we're looking to speak with Sofia James. Detective's Tutuola and Munch, Manhattan SVU." Fin said, as both he and Munch displayed their badges.

"Is this about the phone call earlier? She's been a ball of nerves since then, I had to send her to the back to do stock." The woman smiled, "Just a moment."

"Pretty cute stuff in here." Munch said, looking around. He picked up a small squeaky giraffe and dangled it in front of Fin.

Fin took one look at the price tag and scoffed, "Pretty expensive stuff in here. I feel like one step in the wrong direction and I'm gonna be signing over my cheques for the next couple months."

"Hi, I'm Sofia." Sofia said cautiously as she walked out from the back room. Everything seemed to be happening so fast after she had made the call. The detectives had talked to her over the phone asking what felt like a million questions, which made her feel nervous about whether she had seen the little girl or not. She almost regretted thinking the two girls looked alike.

"Detective Tutuola, this is my partner, John Munch, we spoke on the phone earlier about you seeing Ava Stabler." Fin started.

"I told you, I don't know if it was actually her, in fact, I'm pretty certain that it probably wasn't her. I really don't want to waste your guys' time." Sofia sighed, biting her lip. Her hands nervously fidgeted from being across her chest to her sides, not sure what to do.

"Ms. James, I know it's nerve wracking to take such a giant leap, but we do thank you for making the call. It could be what gives a mother and father their little girl back." Munch stated, offering a small smile. He could see Sofia loosen up just a bit, so he continued, "Now, do you have a copy of the transaction from this afternoon when you saw the child?"

Sofia nodded her head and the two detectives followed her to the till. She went through a few papers, hit a couple buttons on the computer screen, and a few seconds later, had a copy of the bill printed for the detectives.

"Do you have security cameras in the store?" Fin asked Sofia's manager as she approached the three.

"Of course. They should be recording still in the back. I can switch the tapes over for you and give you the one from this afternoon, just give me a moment." The woman replied, heading off to the back office.

"I really do hope it's her." Sofia said to the two detectives as they waited for her manager to get the tape.

"We hope so too." Fin said.

* * *

Fin stood over Munch's desk, waiting for his partner to finish his phone call, and nodded at Cragen as he walked out of his office and towards the two detectives.

"How are you guys doing?" Cragen asked Fin, noting Munch talking on the phone.

"We traced the credit card to a joint account- Matthew and Emily Parker. John's having them check for any other charges on the card, somewhere we can check."

Munch ended his phone call a few seconds later, and turned to the two men with a hopeful look. "There's a hold on the card at The Plaza, they haven't checked out yet."

"Alright, I'll have Macdonald get a background on both names while you're gone, so we have some info to go off of when you get back here. I want you two to tread lightly on this." Cragen stressed. "We don't want to terrify the woman if that isn't Ava. Bring her down for questioning and I'll have Casey get an order for a DNA swab of the baby." Cragen ordered. Fin and Munch both nodded in agreement, then headed out.

"I hope we're finally on to something here." Fin said to his partner as they waited for the elevator down to the car.

It had been such a painful year for his friends, and he wanted nothing more than to be able to see their faces when they heard the news that their daughter had been found. Not only would Elliot and Olivia be ecstatic, Fin would be too. He still held onto the memory of Olivia placing her baby girl in his arms. The second newborn Ava had looked into his eyes, Fin's heart had melted.

"Fingers crossed." Munch said, stepping into the elevator.

* * *

Each of the detectives took a small breath before Munch knocked on the door, "Room service!" He announced.

"Just a second!" A woman's voice replied from behind the door. A few seconds later, the door opened, and the detectives came face to face with Emily Parker. She stood in front of the two smiling, her dark blonde hair pulled back into a mother's typical messy ponytail, and she was dressed casually in a pair of capris and t-shirt. She did not by any standards, look like a kidnapper.

"Mrs. Parker? We're detectives from Manhattan SVU- Fin Tutuola, and my partner, John Munch." Fin stated, showing his badge to the woman.

"Oh my gosh, is everything okay? Is this about my husband?" Emily asked, a worried look washing over her face.

Before Munch or Fin could go into details, a small cry broke out, "Mommy?"

"Uh, just a second please… my daughter just woke up." Emily Parker took off down the hallway of her suite, returning quickly with a little girl on her hip.

Munch and Fin tried hard not to react, but there was no denying it. With her piercing blue eyes, the little girl eyed the men, unsure of what was going on, and rested her head down on Emily Parker's shoulder.

_Those eyes, _Fin thought. If only he could just grab her and run, he would do it in a heartbeat. He knew for certain that Munch was thinking the same thing, but they had protocol, and in a case like this, it had to be followed, so they hopped to it.

"Mrs. Parker, we just have a few questions to ask you in regards to a case that was brought up in our department. We'll need you to come down to our station with us." Munch said as matter-of-factly as he could have.

And then the wheels were set in motion.

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**Reviews are encouraged, especially to let me know if I should still continue =)**


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